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T. G. ONSTOT 



PIONEERS 



OF 



MENARD AND MASON 
COUNTIES 



MADE UP OI PERSONAL REMLNISCENSES Of ANKAKI.Y iim [\ 
MENARD COUNTY, WHICH VI l GATHERED IN A SALEM LIFE 

»m L830 i" L840, wi> \ Petersburg llpe from 
L840 ro L8S0; inojium. person vl reminis< i ~ 

OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN LND PI fER CARTRIGHT. 



T. G. ONST< >T 



Published bi T. G. Onstot. Forest City, Illinois. 

PRINTED BY J. \V. FRANKS & SONS, 

PEORIA, II. I. IN. US. 






CONGRESS, 

Two Cowtd Reosived 

NOV, ft |C!02 

CLASsC^XXo. No. 

/y^TO<V 



OOPV 8, 



Entered according: to Act of Congress in the year 1902, by 

T. G. Onstot, 

in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D, C. 



>o 



THIS BOOK 
IS RESPECTFTLIY DEDICATED TO 

SI "SAX EMMA < >NST< >T 

BY HER FATHER 

T. G. Oxstot, Forest City, III. 



Index 

Salutatory 12 

Introductory 13 

CHAPTER I, 
Reminiscences of Lincoln 17 

CHAPTER II. 

His First Love 22 

His Second Love 24 

Lincoln's Third Love 30 

Lincoln's Marriage 33 

CHAPTER III. 

From Flat Boat to White House 38 

Shirt Sleeve Court in the Corn Field 41 

Lincoln Attends a Circus 46 

President Lincoln's First Dollar 51 

CHAPTER IV. 

Lincoln at Salem 53 

Lincoln as a Lawyer, on Horseback 58 

Lincoln's Appearance 63 

As a Lawyer 65 

How He Traded Horses 66 

He Preferred Grant's Whisky 66 

Lincoln's Apt Reply 67 

CHAPTER V. 

Ross and Lincoln 68 

Anecdotes of Lincoln 71 

Lincoln's Early Life 75 

CHAPTER VI. 

Lincoln's Old Home 79 

How Lincoln Cured Charles Revis from Swearing 85 

Lincoln as Postmaster at Salem 87 

Biographical Note of Lincoln 90 



CHAPTER VII. 

Lincoln's Religious Belief 9 2 

Abe Lincoln and Slicky Bill Green 95 

Trial of Duff Armstrong 9 s 

Duff Armstrong's Statement I0 ° 

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Backwoods Preacher I0 3 

Birth of Cartright I0 3 

Judge of Human Nature I0 7 

Cartright at a Dance IQ 8 

A Fatal Accident 1 10 

CHAPTER IX. 

Anecdotes of Cartright ll1 

Cartright's Appearance 1 1 3 

CHAPTER X. 

Riding His Circuit IX 5 

Cartright gets a little Boozy TI 7 

Capacity for W< »rk ll & 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Baptists I21 

The Campbellites I2 3 

The Presbyterians I2 4 

Methodist Church I2 4 

Old Fashioned Camp-Meeting I2 5 

Peter Cartright's Tomb I2 & 

CHAPTER XII. 

Menard County ! 3 r 

Stories of Pioneer Days 134 

The Cold Day in 1837 136 

CHAPTEjR XIII. 

The Green Family J 3^ 

A Pioneer Gone M 1 

The Watkins Family M-' 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Old Salem on the Hill 148 

The West End of Salem 152 

Old Salem Under the Hill 155 

CHAPTER XV. 

Old Settler's Day 160 

The Founders of Petersburg- 165 

A Trip to Petersburg 166 

In Memoriam 168 

CHAPTER XVI. 
History of Petersburg Sixty Years Ago 170 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Early Times in the Capital of Menard 178 

Petersburg in the Forties 184 

Old Fashioned Barbecues 189 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Recollections of Presidential Campaigns 192 

Fish at Salem Dam 195 

My First Pair of Boots 196 

The Old Schoolhouse on the Hill 198 

A Deer Hunt 199 

George Kirby of Sandridge 200 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Old Time Stories 203 

Judge Joseph H. Pillsbury 206 

CHAPTER XX. 

Reminiscences of Menard County 208 

Early Settlements 211 

Lincoln and the Bull 216 

CHAPTER XXI. 
Anecdotes of Menard 217 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Navigation of the Sangamon 222 

Warlike Spirit of Menard County 223 

Some Early Settlers " 226 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

City of Petersburg 239 

Athens 245 

A Letter from H. L. Ross 246 

CHAPTER XXIV. 
History of Mason County 253 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Havana Township 260 

City of Havana 264 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Bath Township 267 

The County Seat Question 275 

CHAPTER XXVII. 
Lynchburg Township 278 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

Quiver Township 283 

CHAPTER XXIX. 
Forest City Township 289 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Manito Township 294 

The All wood Tragedy 301 

Village of Manito 302 

CHAPTER XXXI. 

Allen's Grove Township 305 

Village of San Jose 309 



CHAPTER XXXII. 
Pennsylvania Township 3 11 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 
Sherman Township 3 l ® 

CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Mason City Township 3 21 

City Public Schools 3 2 7 

Religious Societies 3 2 7 

CHAPTER XXXV. 

Kilbourne Township 33 l 

Village of Kilbourne 33^ 

CHAPTER XXXVI. 

Crane Creek Township 33'^ 

Walker's Grove 34 2 

Religious Services 343 

CHAPTER XXXVII. 
Salt Creek 345 

CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

Henry Onstot 351 

The Old Home 353 

Sand Burrs 355 

CHAPTER XXXIX. 

Pen Picture of Col. John E. Xeikirk 357 

Reverdy J. Onstot 3 6 ° 

A Hustler 361 

CHAPTER XL. 

The Early Settlement of Havana 3°5 

An Indian Battle at Havana 3&> 

CHAPTER XLI. 

The Old Havana Hotel 373 

The Early Settlement of Mason County 377 

Spring Lake 379 



CHAPTER XLII. 

Havana from 1845 to i860 3 S 4 

The Churches 3§7 

Robert McReynolds 39° 

The Howell Family 39 2 

Other Old Settlers 39 2 

CHAPTER XLIII. 

Dr. Charles Newton 395 

The Old and the New 397 

Riverside Park 399 



Cist of Illustrations 

T. G. Onstot Frontispiece 

Abraham Lincoln l 7 

Lincoln's Residence at Springfield, Illinois 3 1 

Lincoln'^ Monument at Springfield, Illinois 47 

Lincoln's Old Home at Salem, [llinois 62 

"The Three Graces" §4 

Peter Cartright 102 

Plat of Salem in 1837 146 

Judge Joseph II. Pillsbury 206 

Harvev Lee Ross -A7 



SALUTATORY. 

When first I took my pen in hand 
This for to write, I did not understand 
That I at all should make a book. 

In more than twenty things I set down, 
This done I had twenty more in my crown; 
And they began to multiply 
Like the sparks that from the coals do fly. 

Well, so I did, but yet did not think 
To show to all the world my pen and ink; 
In such a mode I only thought to make, 
I knew not what, nor did I undertake 

Thereby to please by neighbor ; no, not I ; 

I did it mine ownself to gratify. 

Thus I set pen to paper with delight, 

And quickly had my thoughts in black and white. 

For, having now my methods by the end, 

Still as I pulled it came, and so I penned 

It down until at last it came to be 

For length and breadth and thickness as you see. 

Well, when I put my ends together 
I showed them to others that I might see whether 
They would condemn them or them justify — 
Some said let them live, some let them die ; 

Some said print it, T. G., others said no ; 
Some it might do good, others said not so. 

Now I was in a strait and did not see 
What was the best thing for me to do ; 
At last I thought since you are thus divided, 
I print it will and so the case was decided. 



INTRODUCTORY. 

We make no apology in appearing before the public- as 
a literary crank. When we first began to publish these let- 
ters in the papers a few years ago we little thought to have 
them in book form. Like Harriett Beecher Stowe, when 
writing the letters that finally crystallized into "Uncle Tom's. 
Cabin," we wrote as the spirit moved. Our Menard county 
friends insisted that these old-time reminiscences be put in 
shape by one who had lived through the formation period — 
should connect the past. One who had lived under the old 
dispensation should hand down to those who live under the 
new dispensation the pi> nicer life of their ancest< irs ; and they 
insist more strongly because the old pioneers are passing- 
away and a few more fleeting years and they will all be 
gone. We were born in Sugar Grove, in 1829, and being 
blessed with a retentive memory know as much <*i the early- 
settlers of Menard and Mason as any man now living. In 
our early boyhood the Indian yell was still heard along the 
bluffs of Salt Creek. 

We have lived to see this country grow to be intelligent, 
educated and refined. All of the useful inventions of today 
have been perfected in our time. The present generation 
knows but little of what its fathers had to contend with. We 
acknowledge obligations to Harvey L. Ross of Oakland. 
California, for many events in the Salem life of Abraham 
Lincoln. He carried the mail on horseback from Lewis- 
town to Springfield when Salem was the only town between 
Havana and Springfield, and was probably better acquainted 
with him than any man living. 

We are also indebted to General Ruggles for dates to- 
many of the Mason county incidents, and to R. D. Miller 
for dates to many Menard county occurrences. We obtained 
their permission to do this. 



There was a Menard and Mason county write-up about 
twenty years ago, but it was expensive and but few bought 
it and not one in fifty ever read it. This book sold for $8. 
Later a history of Mason and Tazewell counties was gotten 
up that sold for $15, which put it out of the reach of com- 
mon people. Our book, at the price of $2.50, condenses the 
facts and incidents of the pioneers and supplies the place of 
both for a small sum of money. 

The Salem life of Abraham Lincoln is well worth the 
price of the book. There may be some mistakes in the book 
but in the main we believe it to be correct. We have been 
in no hurry in writing the book ; it has been three years in 
preparation. 

We have counted Abraham Lincoln as one of Menard's 
early pioneers, as it was here he lived during his formative 
period of life, and it was here that Peter Cartright would 
often come while he was in political life. These two celeb- 
rities ought to give Salem a name to live in future genera- 
tions; so we send this volume out to all classes. The old 
will read what the pioneers did for the upbuilding of this 
country ; the young will read it although some parts may 
seem like romance. 




REMINISCENCES 

OF 

ABRAHAM LINCOLN 




ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 



CHAPTER I. 



Yjjf. 


pi 




■ %ft 








**-'-~ ' 



N 1832 a large territory of land, known as the 
Black I lawk purchase, embracing the stale of 
Iowa, was opened for settlement, and the tide 
of emigration set out that way. 
In our earliest recollection, Iowa was the terminus of 
emigratii m, and when a man had cattle or milch cows for sale 
he drove them to the mine-, which were adjacent. It was 
the only market. Some misunderstanding occurred and 
Black Hawk refused to vacate, the settlers were at the mercy 
of the Indian warriors. Volunteers were called for. As the 
requisite number did not answer, the call for a draft was 
ordered, and my father was drafted. Lincoln was the cap- 
tain of a company. As my father had a family of small 
children, and could not well go, he hired a substitute, .1 
young man who had come to Salem at that time by the name 
of John llillis. who agreed to go in his place, my father 
giving him thirty dollars and his rifle. Lincoln's company 
left for the scene of action but never saw any tndians, as 
the dispute was settled and Black Hawk left the country. 
Thus ended Lincoln's military career, till by virtue of his 
authority as president, he was commander-in-chief of the 
army of the United State-. We will now relate Lincoln's 
duel with James Shield-. Shield- was an Irishman, nervous 



i8 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

and fidgety. The trouble was in 1842. A piece of poetry 
appeared in the Springfield Journal, which was rather per- 
sonal and sarcastic on Shields, who was a bachelor. He 
swore vengeance on the unknown writer, who was known 
by Lincoln to be a lady of high standing. Shields grew more 
war-like, but could not rind out who the author was. Lin- 
coln, in a peculiar way. sent word to Shields that he was 
the man. Lincoln was attending court at Tremont at the 
time when he received a challenge from Shields who de- 
manded satisfaction or blood. 

Abe accepted the challenge for a duel and chose for 
weapons, broad swords, which were about the length and 
size of a mowing scythe. Shields protested against the 
weapons as not being fair, as he was of small stature, and his 
opponent had double the reach, but Lincoln had the choice 
of weapons, according to the code of dueling. There was an 
island opposite St. Louis and Illinois that was not supposed 
to belong to either, and here in early days many a bloody 
conflict took place and the principals were secure from ar- 
rest, and well had it earned the name of Bloody Island. 

From Springfield to this historical spot was one hundred 
miles and the only means of conveyance was the overland 
r< »ute and tw< 1 days were required for the journey. Both men 
and their friends started on the journey at the same time. 
Abe employed his time while waiting for Shields with his 
coat off, trimming up the under-brush and humming "Yan- 
kee Doodle.*' In a short time the other parties arrived and 
their mutual friends began to arrange for the conflict. 

Thanks to our advanced civilization, the "barbarous 
code" is no longer tolerated and the man who refuses a chal- 
lenge is a braver man than the one who sends it. The 
Yankee way is to argue the man out of it and "he who runs 
away may live to fight another day." After the belligerents 
had left Springfield, John J. Hardin, of Jacksonville, one 
of the grandest men of Illinois, hearing of the circum- 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 19 

stances, determined to prevent the carrying out of the pro- 
gram, and though they had several hours the start, and he 
had an equal distance to travel, set out for the race. But 
there was a road from Jacksonville, "a good broad highway 
leading down. and. there through the flush of morning light. 
as still and black as the steeds of night, was seen to pass, 
as with an eagle'- flight, as if he knew the terrible need, he 
stretched away with the utmost speed." Before he finished 
the journey, his horse gave out and he procured another. 
"The heart of the master, the heart of the steed, were beating 
like prisoners assaulting their walls impatient to be where 
the battle field calls." Every nerve of the charger was 
strained to full play. Arriving on the ground just as the 
combatants were getting ready for battle. Hardin rushed 
in between them, and by curses compelled them to make 
friends and go home and not make such fools of themselves. 
Lincoln and Shield- shook hands over the bloody chasm and 
were friend- ever afterward. 

The suspense at Petersburg where I then lived, was 
intense. There were no railroad-, telegraphs or telephone, 
and it was three days before we were informed of the happy 
termination of the affair. There was only one opinion a- to 
what the termination would have been had the affair pro- 
ceeded. Lincoln, by hi- superior -kill and strength, would 
have disarmed his opponent. Shield- rose to distinction, 
and was -hot through the breast in the Mexican war and 
left for dead, but recovered and became a prominent poli- 
tician in Illinois, went to the United State- Senate, then 
went to Missouri where he was again elected to the senate, 
then to California where he was again sent to the senate. 
Thus he wa- senator from three state-, and didn't have to 
buy his -eat either a- senators have to do now. Where was 
Lincoln's great power some may ask? It was because he 
was a man of the people. The common people from which 



20 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

he sprang ; he always had their interest at heart and be- 
lieved that this was a government of the people, and by the 
people. Though a lawyer by profession he never encour- 
aged neighbors to spend their time and money in litiga- 
tion. \Ye were shown a letter by Ida Ball of Menard 
county, where Mr. Bates had retained the services of Mr. 
Lincoln in a case against Mr. Hiccox about some wheat in 
which Lincoln wrote Bates: "I think if you would see 
Mr. Hiccox and have a talk with him you could fix this 
business up, which would be better than to have a lawsuit 
about it." How many lawyers in Petersburg would have 
given such advice, and yet this was his way of doing, "fix it 
up vourselves." In his debate with Douglas, Lincoln al- 
ways had the advantage, and his arguments led to liberty, 
and Douglas always led to human bondage. Human bon- 
dage could never be eulogized, it never could be sung while 
liberty and freedom has been sung by poets and bards since 
creation. Ever since the morning stars sang together. 

Lincoln, as a surveyor, as we recollect, did most of his 
work north of Petersburg, though Sangamon county ran 
to the Illinois river, and the north part of Mason county was 
in Tazewell county. He laid out the town of Bath. We 
never heard of any of his work but what gave satisfaction. 
My brother, R. J. Onstot, of Mason City, has a plat of 
Huron, a town at Miller's ferry on the Sangamon river. 
The land was bought by a syndicate before Menard county 
was laid out and was held for a county seat. The plat is 
in good shape, the blocks run north and south. My brother 
values it very much, as it is Lincoln's own hand-writing. 
There was a town not far from Bill Smoot's by the name 
of New Market but these towns were only on paper, and 
when the count v seat was located, the land upon which 
no new homes had been built were again used for farming. 
I well recall when the committee, which was appointed to 
locate, came through Salem, a large crowd following, there 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 



21 



were twenty-five or thirty men or horseback, the only way 
men traveled then, with about a dozen dogs following. 
They stopped before my father's shop and listened to sug- 
gestions, but I think from the start they had made up their 
minds to locate the county house at Petersburg. When 
Mason county was laid out, little Menard was then about 
twenty miles square and Petersburg was in the center. 

Lincoln's wonderful eloquence has never been sur- 
passed. 1 [is < Gettysburg speech has never been equalled, and 
it will go down to the coming generations as a model with- 
out a peer. When he wrote it he handed it to Seward, 
who looked it over and began to suggest error- and did 
not think it worthy of a state paper. Seward would have 
written five time- as much, and not express one-half- the 
meaning. Mis Cooper Institute speech was made before 
the most critical audience that ever assembled to hear a 
man speak. Lincoln was at first a little diffident but soon 
I'urgot his humble origin, and taking for hi- text: "Our 
fathers, when they founded the government, under which 
we live, understood this question jusl a- well and even 
better than we did." After his speech he was warml) con 
gratulated and the speech made him president. The western 
man without fame, was at once placed at the head of living 
state-men which place he retained until the hour of his 
tragic death. 





CHAPTER II. 
HIS FIRST LOVE 

|T THE time Mr. Lincoln boarded at the Rut- 
ledge tavern, Harvey Ross also put up there as 
often as he passed through Salem. It was a 
hewn log house, two stories high, with four 
rooms above and four below. It had two chimneys 
with a large fire place, and not a stove in the house. The 
proprietor was James Rutledge, a man of more than or- 
dinary ability, and with his wife kind and hospitable. They 
had a large family of eight or nine children, and among 
them their daughter, Anna, celebrated in song and story as 
Lincoln's sweetheart. She was several years younger than 
Lincoln, of medium size, weighing 125 pounds and had 
flaxen hair. She was handsome and attractive, as well as 
industrious and sweet spirited. It was seldom that she was 
not eng'aged in some occupation — knitting, sewing or wait- 
ing on the table. I think she did the sewing for the family. 
Lincoln was boarding at the tavern, and fell deeply in love 
with the gentle Annie, and she was no less in love with 
him. They were engaged to be married but had been put- 
ting the wedding off for awhile as he wanted to accumulate 
a little more property, and she wished to attend school a 
while longer. Before the time had arrived when they were 
to be married. Miss Annie was taken down with typhoid 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 23 

fever, and lay dangerously sick for four weeks. Lincoln 
was an anxious and constant watcher at her bedside. The 
sickness ended in death, and young Lincoln was heart broken 
and prostrated. The histories have not exaggerated his 
pitiful grief, for he was not able to attend to business for 
quite awhile. 1 think his whole soul was wrapped up in 
that lovely girl, it was his first love, the holiest thing in 
life, the love that cannot die. The deepest gloom settled over 
Ins mind, lie would often say to his friends, "My heart is 
buried in the grave with that dear girl." Me would often 
<>o and sit by her grave and read from a little pocket testa- 
ment which he carried with him. What he read 1 know not. 
but I'll warrant you it was, "Let not your heart be troubled," 
or form's vision on the Lie of Patmos with Anna among 
the white robed throng, where sickness, sorrow, pain and 
death arc feared no more: where death is unknown. One 
Stormy night he was at the house of a friend, and as rain and 
sleet came down on the roof he -at with bowed head and 
tears trickling down his cheeks. His friends begged him 
to control his grief. "I cannot," -aid he. "while storm and 
darkness are 1 >n her grave." 

Anna Rutledge was of gentle blood and would have 
made him a noble wife in his humble years and in the im- 
perial later li fe. 

David Rutledge, a brother of Anna, took a course at 
Jacksonville college, and then went to Lewistown and studied 
law in the office of L. \Y. Ross and J no. I' Boice. lie af- 
terwards married Mi-- Elizabeth Simms, and moved to 
Petersburg and opened up a law office, lie was a bright 
and promising young lawyer, and no doubt would have made 
his mark but for his untimely death, lie was buried by the 
side of his sister in the cemetery. I li- widow married C. \\ . 
\11drus. a prominent merchant of Havana. 

The Rutledge family stood high in the country. Anna's 
father was a South Carolinian of high birth. One of his 



24 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

ancestors signed the Declaration of Independence. Another 
was chief justice of the Supreme Court under Washington's 
appointment. A third was a conspicuous leader in congress. 
So Lincoln's boyhood love was of a high and gentle birth. 



HIS SECOND LOVE 

One year after the sad death of Anna Rutledge, Mr. 
Lincoln again fell in love. Miss Mary Owens was his second 
sweetheart. She came from Kentucky to visit her sister, 
Mrs. Bennett Able, who lived just north of Salem. In many 
respects she was very different from Anna Rutledge. She 
was ( »lder and larger. She was finely educated and had been 
brought up in the most refined society, and she dressed much 
finer than any lady who lived about New Salem. Her 
fashionable silk dress was in striking contrast with the calico 
dress, calf skin shoes and straw bonnet that Anna had worn 
She was in the habit of making frequent visits to the post- 
< iffice for letters from her Kentucky home, and that was 
where Lincoln first became acquainted with her. It was 
not long until he became a frequent visitor at her sister's 
h( >me, and these visits continued until her return to Ken- 
tucky. It became the gossip of the neighborhood that they 
were to be married. When the gossip was repeated to Lin- 
coln by a friend he replied, "If ever that girl comes back to 
New Salem I am going to marry her." In about three years 
Miss Mary did return, but Lincoln did not marry her, and 
1 presume the readers will want to know the secret of it 
all. They did not agree, and she would not consent to the 
marriage. On this point Miss Mary is reported to have said 
that there were many things she liked and other things she 
did not like, and the things she did not like overbalanced 
the things she did like. "I could not help admire Mr. 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 



~D 



Lincoln." she said, "for his honesty, truthfulness and good- 
ness of heart, but I think he was a little too presumptuous 
when he told his friend that if I ever came back to New 
Salem he was going to marry me. That is a bargain that 
it take- two to make, and then his training- and bringing up 
has been so different from my own. and his uncouth be- 
havior was mo>t disagreeable. He was lacking- in those little 
links which make up the chain i^\ a woman's happiness. 
At least that was my judgment, lie was not the ideal hus- 
band that I had pictured to myself that 1 could love, lie 
asked me to become his wife; 1 told him no." 

In our next we will give Mr. Lincoln's side of the story. 
lie had a lad) friend whom lie confided in and advised with 
in many of his private affairs, she had learned that he- 
was engaged to Mi-- Mary and that the engagement was 
broken off. and she wanted to know the cause. So he wrote 
her a letter and it is presumed he did not expect the letter 
to go out of her possession unless it went into the tire, hut 
as time went on it did get out of her hands. 

After James Kulledge unwed out of the log tavern my 
father, Henry < histott, moved in and occupied it from [833 
till [835, and still had for a boarder Abraham Lincoln. 
It was at this time that my early impressions of him were 
formed. We did not know at that time that we were enter 
taining an angel unawares. My first knowledge of him was 
as a greal marble player, lie kept us small boys running 
in all directions gathering up the marbles he would scatter. 
During this time he followed surveying, having learned in 
six weeks from books furnished him by John Calhoun, of 
Springfield. About this time he commenced to read some 
law book which he borrowed of Bowling Green, who lived 
one-half mile north of Salem. I think my father and 
bs<|uirc Green did more than any other two men in deter- 
mining Lincoln'- future destiny. Green died in [844 before 
Lincoln developed future greatness, while my father lived to 



26 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

see him at his zenith, and his sim go down nndimmed, and 
a whole nation of mourners around his bier. 

After the refusal of Mary Owens to marry Lincoln a 
lady friend knowing- the circumstances wrote to Mr. Lincoln 
to ascertain the reason of the refusal, to which he replied : 

"Springfield. 111., April i, 1838.— Dear Madam :— It was 
in the autumn of 1836 that a married lady. Mrs. Bennett 
Able, of my acquaintance, who was a great friend of mine, 
being about to pay her father a visit in Kentucky, proposed 
to me that on her return she would bring a sister of her's 
back with her on condition that I would become her brother- 
in-law. With all convenient dispatch I of course accepted 
the proposal, for von know I would not have done otherwise 
had I been averse to it. but between yon and me I was most 
confoundedly well pleased with the project. I had seen her 
sister some years before and thought her agreeable and in- 
telligent and saw no good reason and no objection to plod- 
ding along through life hand to hand with her. Time 
passed. The lady took her journey in due time and returned, 
her sister in company with her. This astonished me a little 
for it appeared to me that her coming so readily showed that 
she was a trifle too willing, but on reflection it occurred to 
me that she might have been prevailed upon by her married 
sister to come without anything concerning me ever having 
been mentioned to her, so I concluded that if no other ob- 
jection presented itself 1 would consent to the plan. All 
this occurred to me on hearing of her arrival in the neigh- 
borhood for be it remembered that I had not seen her except 
about three years previous as above mentioned. In a few 
davs we had an interview and although I had seen her be- 
fore she did not look as my imagination had pictured her. 
I knew she was over size, but she now appeared a match for 
Talstaff.' I knew she was called an old maid and I felt the 
truth of one-half the application, but now when I beheld 
her 1 could not help thinking of my mother, and this not 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 

from her withered features for her skin was too full of fat 
to permit it to wrinkle, but from her want of teeth and 
weatherbeaten appearance in general and from a kind of 
a notion that ran in my head that nothing could have com : 
menced in infancy and reached her present hulk in less 
than thirty-five or fprty years. In short 1 was not well 
pleased with her. hut what could 1 do. 1 told her sister I 
would take her for better or worse and made it a point <>i 
honor in all thin-- to -tick to my word, especially if others 
had been induced to act on it. which in this case 1 had no 
doubt they had. I was now convinced that no other man on 
earth would have her and hence they were benl on holding 
me to the bargain. Well, thoughl 1. 1 have -aid it and 
may the consequences be what they may. it -hall not he my 
fault if 1 fail to do it. At once I determined to consider 
my wife. This done all my powers of discovery were put 
to work in search of perfections which might upset her 
. Inert-. I tried to imagine her handsome, which, but for 
her corpulency was true. Exclusive of this no woman 1 had 
ever seen had a fairer fare. I also tried to convince my- 
self that the mind was much more to he valued than the 
tace and in this she was not inferior, a- I could discover, 
to anyone with whom I was acquainted. Shortly after, with- 
out coming to an understanding with her. 1 set out for Van 
dalia to take my -eat in the legislature. During my short 
Stay there 1 had letter- from her which did not change my 
opinion of her intellect or intention, but on the contrary 
confirmed it in both. All this time 1 was fixed firm in my 
resolution. I found that I was continually repenting of 
the rashness that had led me to make it. After my return 
home I saw nothing to change my opinion of her. She 
was the same and so was [. I now spent my time in 
planning how I might get along in life after my changed 
condition, how I might put off the evil day. which I really 
dreaded as the Irishman the halter. And now you want to 



28 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

know how I got out of the scrape clear in every sense of 
the term with no violation of word or honor. I do not be- 
lieve you can guess so I will tell you. As the lawyer says 
it was done in this manner, to-wit : After I had delayed 
the matter as long as I thought I could I came to the con- 
clusion that I might as well bring the matter to a close 
si ) 1 mustered up courage and proposed to her direct, but 
shocking to relate she answered. 'No.' I first thought she 
did it through modesty, which I did not think becoming 
under the circumstances of the case, but on renewing my 
suit she repelled it with greater firmness than before. I tried 
it again and again with the same success or rather want 
of success. I was finally forced to give it up and found 
myself mortified beyond endurance: I was mortified it 
seemed in a hundred ways. My vanitv was deeply wounded 
by the reflection that I had been too stupid to discover her 
intentions and at the same time never doubting that I un- 
derstood them perfectly and that she whom I had taught my- 
self to believe would have been the last to reject me — me 
with all my greatness — and then to cap the whole thing I 
began to suspect that I was really in love with her. But 
let it all go. I'll try to out-live it. Others have been made 
fools of by girls but this can never be said of me. In this 
instance I made a fool of myself. I now have come to the 
conclusion never again to think of marrying and for the 
reason that I never could lie satisfied with anyone who 
would be blockhead enough to have me. Your sincere 
friend. A. Lincoln. 

Mr. Lincoln was noted for his kindness and when he 
could exercise it he always did. One of the many examples 
of his kind-hearted nature recently came to light among 
the papers in the war department at Washington. It was 
a letter from a young woman in a western state asking 
for the return of her sweetheart who was at that time a 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 29 

soldier in the union army. In a pathetic way she told how 
in the beginning of the war she was engaged and her lover 
had gone to the front promising to return and make her 
his bride. Over a year had passed and her lover was ly- 
ing wounded in a hospital. The young woman said that 
it" the soldier did not return she would die of a broken heart. 
Whether the lovers were reunited the records do not show 
bul the papers hear evidence that the appeal touched the 
heart of the president for across the hack is written in his 
own handwriting "Let her go to him."' A. Lincoln. 

It would seem thai after the death of Anna Rutledge 
and the refusal of Mary Owens, Mr. Lincoln would have 
hen discouraged in hi- matrimonial attempts, hut it was 
not so in hi- case. It is an old saying that there are as good 
fish in the sea a- ever were caught. \fter his removal to 
Springfield he was thrown into different society and with 
his genial good nature lie was not destined to live an old 
bachelor. We shall give his third and last love. 

By his marriage with Mary Todd there were three 
children >< 1 the name of Lincoln was perpetuated. We 
have met Robert Lincoln several times but there is not 
the least resemblance to his father in his make up. He is 
a short, heavy-set man with a broad fact' and heavy eye 
brows, lie resembles the Todds and not the Lincolns. 

:|: :|: * * 

We received a letter from Harvey L. Loss. Oakland, 
Cal., in which he says: "I am glad you are writing a his 
tory of Mason and Menard counties. 1 lived in what is 
known as Mason county and I knew every man. woman 
and child and almost every horse and dog. I am glad thai 
my brother Leonard sent you a copy of my hook and you 
arc welcome to copy from it when you wish. I did not 
get my hook oul to sell or make money hut tor the ac- 
commodation of mv relatives and friends in order that 



30 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

they may have a correct knowledge of the events that took 
place in those old pioneer days. There were some of my 
letters I wrote for the Fulton County Democrat, which got 
lost and when the book came out I found they were not 
in it and I thought that if you were going to get up a book I 
would write them over and send them to you and if you 
thought they would be of any benefit to you, you could use 
them. If I can render you any assistance in getting up your 
book I will do so and all I will charge you is a copy of 
your book when it is printed. I am now in my eighty-third 
year. My health is good and I can remember many of 
the early events that took place in those counties. I believe 
you can get up a good and correct history of Mason and 
Menard counties. If there is anything you would like to 
ask me about I will be pleased to give you all the informa- 
tion that T can." 



LINCOLN'S THIRD LOVE 

It may be supposed that after two failures, Lincoln 
would go slow in matrimonial ventures, but the duel with 
Shields had a broader meaning than most people imagine, 
and the green-eyed monster, jealousy, had much to do 
with it. 

Miss Mary Todd was a fine cultured lady, and Shields, 
Lincoln, Stephen A. Douglas and some other lawyers about 
Springfield had been paying considerable attention to her. 
and Shields became deeply enamored with her. He had 
served in the legislature with a great deal of credit, and was 
then holding the office of State Auditor, and besides being 
an able lawyer he was quite popular in the Democratic 
party. Miss Mary was a handsome, brilliant and highly 
educated young lady, and was respectably connected in 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 



3 1 



Springfield, and there is no doubt that Shields wanted her 
to become his wife, but Lincoln was his rival and appeared 
to have the preference with Mis-; Todd, so when the article 
appeared in the Springfield papers that Shields objected 
to which was no doubt written by Mary, it gave him an 
excuse to challenge Lincoln to mortal combat. The terms 
were so hxed that it gave Lincoln the advantage with his 
long legs and arms, while Shields was a short man with 




LINCOLN S RESIDENCE AT SPRINGFIELD, ILL. 



short arms and legs. The result would be that Lincoln, 
by stooping over with his long arms, could tickle Shields 
very uncomfortably about his ribs with the point of his 
■-word, while Shields could not reach Lincoln by twelve or 
fifteen inches. It would have placed Shields completely at 
the mercy of Lincoln, but in all the world he could not 
haw been in kinder hands, for it never was in Lincoln's 



32 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

big and tender heart to have hurt a human being except in 
self defense. But when Hardin appeared on the ground 
and declared the matter had to stop, as there was nothing 
to fight about but a little miserable understanding, and if 
Shields would withdraw the offensive letter that Lincoln 
would give a satisfactory explanation. Hardin's advice was 
taken, and Lincoln explained for the lady that the article 
was not intended to reflect on Shields. Shields w r as satisfied 
and the fight was declared off. The woman was kept in 
the background. 

Xow it is probable that there was not another man 
in Sangamon county at that time who, if he had received 
such a challenge, would not have made up his mind that he 
had to back down and confess that he was afraid to fight 
or stand up to the racket, but as we have hinted that a 
woman was involved, and Lincoln with his great mind and 
common sense came out victorious and nobody hurt. Lin- 
coln afterwards told his friends that he did not want to 
hurt his rival ; that he had nothing against him, but that 
if he had paid no attention to the challenge Shields would 
have said he was a coward and had showed the white 
feather, and he would teach him to behave himself. 

"Herndon's Life of Lincoln" says that Lincoln and 
Shields were to stand twelve feet apart in their duel, which 
was a mistake, as the rule was twice the distance of one of 
the swords. He describes Shields as a hot-headed, blustering 
Irishman of little prominence, when he was a man of great 
ability. He served as Advocate Justice of the Supreme Court 
was Commissioner of the General Land Office and had the 
rare distinction of being at different times Senator from 
Illinois. Missouri and California, which honor we trunk 
was never enjoyed by any other man. He was also a gallant 
officer in the Mexican war and the war of the rebellion. 
After Lincoln was president, he remembered his old friend 
who was a rival for his sweetheart — who would have foue'ht 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 33 

a duel for her hand, and showed his kind and forgiving 
spirit by presenting Shields with a Brigadier-General's com- 
mission. So Shields must have been a man of considerable 
ability to have held these positions. He was a grand and 
patriotic man. How wonderful was the tact of Lincoln in 
averting with honor to himself the duel that might have 
nibbed our country of two such men. 

In due time Lincoln and Miss Mary Todd were married. 
She was of a high bred family of Kentucky, and entirely 
different from Abe in every particular. Her relatives were 
all rebels, several of her brothers holding commissions in 
the rebel army, and it is not my province as a historian t<> 
speak of the influence they might have exerted over a part 
of the president's household. The poor woman bad trouble 
cin mob in her declining day- to have unsettled stronger 
minds. Let the veil of charity be drawn over her life. 



LINCOLN'S MARRIAGE 

By permission of Mi"-. Ben Edwards we are permitted 
to publish the account of the wedding of Abraham Lincoln 
to Miss Mary Todd in Springfield in November, [842. 
Mr-. Edwards is the only person, now living, who was at 
the wedding. This letter will set at rest W. II. Herndons 
wild vagaries concerning Lincoln's marriage. 

A few weeks ago while in Springfield we called at the 
Edwards' mansion. It is situated in the middle of a block 
and the house must have been built sixty years ago, and 
though I '.en Edwards must have been dead main' years ago, 
the hou>e and grounds are carefully kept. The house i< 
surrounded with flower beds and ornamental shrubbery with 
tine stone walks leading from the house and blue grass plats 
all over the yard. The house i- very largre and commodious. 



34 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

AYe well remember Ben Edwards when he used to come 
to Petersburg courts and at one time was a partner of 
Lincoln's. We felt kind of high reverence as we entered 
the historic grounds. The wife of Ninian Edwards was a 
sister of Mrs. Lincoln's, who also took part in the wedding 
but who has long since passed away, as have most of the 
actors in the scenes of those early days. The Edwards' 
mansion is about ten blocks northwest of the old Lincoln 
home. 

Mrs. Edwards gave an account of the events leading 
up to the marriage of Lincoln. She says that Mary Todd 
had naturally a line mind and a cultivated taste. She was 
a thinker and possessed a remarkable memory. Her 
brilliant conversation often embellished with apt quotations 
made her society much sought after by all the young people 
of the town. She was also quick at repartee and when oc 
casion seemed to require it. was sarcastic and severe. 

About the time Mrs. Edwards came to Springfield, in 
1840, Springfield society contained some of the brightest 
young men that an}- state could produce— men whose names 
hold a prominent place in Illinois history. During the ses- 
sions of the Illinois legislature among these were Isaac 
Arnold. J. L. Scammon, Lyman Trumbull, Mark Skinner. 
William B. Ogden and others. Besides our bright particular 
stars, of whom I will name only Abraham Lincoln and 
Stephen A. Douglas, the Little Giant, there were others 
whose names stand high on the roll of honor in our 
own state. These legislative assemblies were always the 
occasion for many social gatherings for distinguished men 
from every part of the state who came to the capital and 
were always royally entertained by our ladies whose hos- 
pitality was noted all over the state. 

There was then a galaxy of beautiful girls, with vivacity 
and intelligence and propriety of deportment. 

All thought that Air. Douglas was more assidious in his 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 35 

attentions than Mr. Lincoln. Some of Mr. Edwards' cousins 
were visiting and making- a gay company and as Mr. Ed- 
wards' home was not far from Miss Todd's home and al- 
most opposite the old Second Presbyterian church, where 
the legislative sessions were held, the state house not being 
complete, the Edwards' house seemed to be the place of 
rendezvous for all the young girls who often tried to tease 
Mary about her suitor. She bore their jokes and teasing 
good naturedly, hut would give them no satisfaction, neither 
denying nor affirming these reports. It was therefore a 
great surprise when the news of their intended marriage 
came out. 

Xinian Edwards went to his brother's one morning and 
without any preliminaries said to Mrs. Edwards: "My wife 
wants yon t « ► come to our house this evening." Mrs. lien 
Edwards asked what was going on. He replied: "We are 
to have a wedding: I met Mr. Lincoln a while ago and 
lie told me that lie and Mary were going to get married 
this evening at the parsonage. I told him that this musl 
not be. a-- Mary was my ward, and if she was to be married 
it must be from my house." lie went on to say that he 
left his wife greatl) disturbed over the fact that she did 
not have time to prepare a wedding feast. There were 
no confectioners in those days to furnish dainty refresh 
ments which are s< . necessary on such occasions. \o caterers 
to relieve the housekeeper of the labor of preparing the 
menu for the hungry guests. Every housekeeper had to de- 
pend upon the skill of her own hands and her own g 1 

taste in preparing the edibles for such an occasion. There 
was 1 mly one bakery in Springfield and its choicest com- 
modities were gingerbread and beer. 

Some little misunderstanding had occurred which had 
prevented Mr. Lincoln from visiting at the house, but Mi's. 
Simon Francis, whose husband was editor of the Sanga 
mon Journal, a mutual friend, had made arrangements 



36 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

that they should meet there, and it was there the wedding 
was planned. To her sister, Mrs. Edwards, she had not 
given the least intimation of her surprise. 

Human nature is the same the world over. This little 
town was not free from its rivalings, envyings and jeal- 
ousies. Some one had spoken of Mr. Lincoln as a plebeian. 
This rankled in the heart of Miss Todd sorely, so when 
about noon on the wedding day Mrs. Edwards' feelings 
were sufficiently calmed to talk to her sister of the affair, 
she said : "Mary, you have not given me much time to pre- 
pare for our guests this evening." Then she added, "1 
guess I will have to send to Old Dickey's for some of the 
gingerbread and beer" Mary replied, "Well, that will be 
good enough for plebeians I suppose." 

Mrs. Edwards was a model housekeeper, and her en- 
tertainments were elaborate and elegant. She was equal 
to the emergency, and on this occasion provided an elegant 
and bountiful supper. The wedding was what might be 
called a pretty one, simple, yet impressive. The details 
were not long remembered by those present, but if the 
guests could only have had in their imagination the thought 
of what was in store in the future of Mr. Lincoln the most 
trifling event of that occasion would have been impressed 
upon their memories as with the point of a diamond. 

Miss Todd's ambition was colossal. She had from early 
girlhood said she expected to marry a man who would some 
day be president of the United States, and she seemed 
to have a prophetic vision that this ambition would be 
realized. But what was there in Mr. Lincoln to encourage 
such ambition and expectation? Apparently nothing. And 
when he was nominated it seemed impossible that there ever 
should be. as there were so many others that could be 
named who seemed so much better fitted than he. But 
the one who regardeth not the outward appearance, but 
knoweth what is in the mind of man, saw in Lincoln that 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 3; 

which so qualified him to be leader of this great nation 
which was to undergo such trying- and fearful changes, 
and therefore bestowed upon him the crown of glory. His 
title to it who can doubt? His reign was short, but the 
result will live forever. 

A few evenings after the wedding Mrs. Edwards met 
Mrs. Lincoln at the residence of Dr. Payne. She congra- 
tulated her. and said : "Mary you were wise in your choice. 
hut I used to think Mr. Douglas would he your choice.*' 
She replied most emphatically: "X". 1 liked him well 
enough but that was all." The next time Mrs. Edwards 
met Mrs. Lincoln was after the assassination, when Mr-. 
Lincoln sent for Mrs. Edwards to meet her at the Clifton 
house in Chicago. She told her that for week- and months 
after her husband's death she was in such a condition that 
life wa- a perfect blank. Time seemed blotted out, and she 
said that she saw -he must have been living in a state of 
unconsciousness, for -he remembered nothing, and the 
awakening wa- terrible. She -aid. too, that her fear that 
Mr. Lincoln would not he reelected gave her great un 
easiness. "1 could have gone down on my knee- and asked 
for votes for him. and again and again he -aid. 'Mary, 1 
am afraid you will he punished for this overwhelming 
anxiety. If I am to he elected it will be all right, if not 
you must hear the disappointment.'' If she could then 
only have had some prophetic vision of that which wa- on 
the other side of the impenetrable fog hank of that which 
was to he, how would she have received it? In merciful 
kindness it was hidden from her eye-. 

Mr. Lincoln at the lime of his marriage was nol prob- 
ably worth five hundred dollar-, in fact he wa- a ] r man 

all of his life. Ik' never charged more than one-half the 
fee- other lawyers charged. His title. "Honest Old Abe," 
followed him through life. His home in Springfield, which 
we visit every time we go to Springfield, is a plain building 
— about an average farm house. 







Sj 





CHAPTER III. 
FROM FLAT BOAT TO WHITE HOUSE 

HE first tiling' that Lincoln undertook worth 
mentioning and that started him on the way to 
the White House was his trip down the Sanga- 
mon in a flat boat loaded with produce. He 
was twenty-one years old at the time and dressed in 
buckskin trousers, butternut colored jeans coat checked 
shirt and straw hat. If the casual observer had been 
told that the young man was starting for the White 
House at Washington he would probably have said that 
the thing was impossible but nevertheless such were the 
facts in the case for inside of that checked shirt and jeans 
coat was an honest, generous and noble heart and inside 
of that straw hat was a head filled with good sense and the 
good Lord had blessed him with an indomitable will, a 
sound body and a good pair of eyes. As soon as the boat- 
started down stream he spied out snags, sand bars, over 
hanging trees, and other obstructions to navigation and 
remembered them which secured for him the position of 
pilot on a steamboat, which ran up the Sangamon river the 
next year. Lincoln's boat floated down the Sangamon, Illi- 
nois and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans, where he sold 
the boat and produce for a good price. He remained in 
New Orlealis long enough to visit the slave market and 
to see husbands and wives, parents and children torn from 
each other and separated perhaps forever. He remembered 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 39 

these things and turning to his companions said. "If ever 
I get a chance I will strike that thing and strike it hard." 
meaning the institution of slavery. The time did come to 
strike and the slaves were set free. He went to the steam- 
boat landing to take passage for St. Louis but instead of 
paying S40 for passage and spending his time drinking. 
smoking and playing cards, as the other young men did 
lie went to the captain and asked him if he wanted another 
hand on the boat. The captain told him to come around 
the next day and lie would employ him, so he got his passage 
free and made a nice sum of money besides. When he 
reached St. Louis he found that the [llinois river steamboat 
had just left and that there would not be another for several 
days. He left his baggage with his partner and went 
across the country to Cales county to visit his parents but 
did not stay long as he was anxious to return tg Salem and, 
turn over the money to the man who had shipped the prod 
ucc. That transaction showed the people that lie was 
honest and capable and he immediately received employment 
as clerk and was afterwards appointed postmaster and sur 
veyor. This was another step towards the White House. 
The next spring he was looking over the papers and saw 
that a steamboat was coming up the Sangamon as far as 
Springfield. Learning what time the boat would reach 
Beardstown Mr. Lincoln set out on foot for that place and 
when the steamer, "The Tailsman" landed and threw out 
her plank he was the first person to step aboard, lie oi 
fered his services to pilot the boat up the Sangamon telling 
the captain that lie had navigated that stream in a tlat boat 
and that he knew where all the obstructions were. So he 
was secured to pilot the boat to Springfield and hack for $50. 
The running of a steamboat up the Sangamon river caused 
greal excitement in Springfield and the country around. At 
that time no railroads had been built and 'he merchants 
and farmers had to haul their goods and produce to St. 



40 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

Louis — a distance of ninety-five miles. It took from ten 
days to two weeks to make the trip, but now they were 
to have a market at their door. When the legislature a few 
vears before had passed a law declaring the Sangamon navi- 
gable little was thought of it. Now Lincoln had taken a 
flat boat down stream and brought a steamboat up which 
demonstrated the fact to a certainty that the Sangamon was 
a navigable stream. Great crowds of people from all parts 
of the country came to see the steamboat as very few had 
ever seen one. The steamer laid at the wharf at Springfield 
for more than a week and during that time Lincoln was 
the hero of the occasion. He got acquainted with more 
people during that week than he could have in three months 
traveling around the country. It was on this occasion that 
his friends brought him out for the legislature. 

There was another circumstance connected with running 
the steamboat up the Sangamon that benefited Mr. Lincoln. 
It induced almost every man who had land on the river 
above high water mark to lay it out in town lots and Lin- 
coln got some fat jobs in surveying. Mr. Lincoln had 
become very popular with the people and had been so fair 
and honorable in his dealing and would no doubt have 
been elected if the democrats had not put up grand old 
Peter Cartright, the Methodist circuit rider and camp meet- 
ing orator. Cartright had the advantage because he had 
preached in every church and schoolhouse and had lived 
in the county six vears longer than Lincoln. He also had 
the advantage as he was forty-seven years old and Lincoln 
was only twenty-three. Cartright had served a term in the 
legislature and was one of the best members in that body. 
Therefore the people sent him back with a small majority 
over Lincoln. That was the only time that Lincoln was 
ever beaten for office by the people, and the only time that 
Cartright was beaten was when he ran for congress against 
Lincoln in 1846. I notice in Cartright's autobiography he 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 41 

fails to mention the fact that he ever ran for congress. The 
only reason 1 can account for it is that Uncle Peter always 
came out ahead in all his anecdotes and incidents and he 
did not want posterity to know that he was ever beaten. 
It was unfortunate for the people that both of these noble 
men could not have been elected. Peter Cartright was an 
Andrew Jackson democrat and Lincoln was a Henry Clay 
w hig. 

Again I want to emphasize the fact that it was Lincoln's 
first trip to New Orleans in a Hat boat that was the first 
round on the ladder that led to the president's chair. If he 
had not gone to Xew Orleans he would not have seen 
husbands and wives and little children separated at the 
auction block and it i- not likely that his great heart would 
ever have been fired with a deathly hatred of slavery. Then if 
he had never gone down to New Orleans with a tlat boai 
he never would have piloted that steamboat up the Sanga 
mon to Springfield. It was this incident that pul him on 
the track for the legislature. Logically that step led him on 
to congress, then to fight with Douglas for a seat in the 
-mate, and then, with a triumphal march to the presidential 
chair, it was all step by step 1 m the ladder 1 »f fame fr< mi the 
flal l^at to the highest office the -n't of the people- -presi 
dent of the United State-. 



THE SHIRT SLEEVE IN THE CORN FIFLD 

Harvey L. Ross had a quarter section of land two miles 
south of Macomb. It was left to him from his father's 
estate. It was a tine quarter but there was some defect in 
the title which could only be remedied by the evidence oi a 
man named Hagerty, who lived six miles west of Spring- 
field and who knew the facts, which he wished to prove. 



42 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

He noticed by the papers that court was in session at Spring- 
field and as court only convened twice a year he immediately 
started for that place, which was sixty miles from his Home. 
He found his witness and took him with him. On ar- 
riving at Springfield he went directly to Mr. Lincoln's office 
which was over a store west of the square. The office was 
fourteen feet square and contained two tables, two book 
cases and a half a dozen chairs. The floor was perfectly 
bare. He told Lincoln his story and showed him his title 
papers. Lincoln looked them over and then remarked : "I 
am sorry to have to tell you that you are a little too late 
for the court has adjourned and will not meet again for 
six months and Judge Thomas has gone home. He lives on 
a farm a mile east of town, but we will go and see him and 
see if he can do anything for you." Ross said he would 
eet a carriage and they would drive out but Lincoln said : 
"No J can walk if you can." Ross said he would as soon 
walk as ride. Before they started Lincoln pulled off his 
coat, laid it on a chair and took from his pocket a large 
bandana handkerchief to wipe the perspiration from his face 
as it was a warm day in August. He struck off across 
the square in his shirt sleeves with the red handkerchief in 
one hand and the bundle of papers in the other, while Ross 
and his witness followed. They soon came to Judge 
Thomas' residence, which was a one story frame house. 
Mr. Lincoln knocked at the door (at that time there were 
no door bells) and the judge's wife came to the door. Mr 
Lincoln asked if the judge was at home and she replied that 
he had gone to the north part of the farm, where they had 
a tenant house, to help his men put up a corn crib. She said 
if they went the main road it would be a half a mile, but 
if they cut across the corn field it would only be a quarter 
of a mile. Mr. Lincoln said if she would show them the 
path they would take the short cut so she came out of the 
house and showed them where the path struck off across 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 43 

the corn field from their barn. They followed the path. 
Mr. Lincoln in the lead and Ross and Hagerty following 
in Indian file and soon came to where the judge and his 
men were raising a log house about twelve by twenty feet. 
It was to serve as a corn crib and a hog house. Mr. Lino >ln 
told the judge how Ross had come from Fulton county 
and had brought his witness to town just after court had 
adjourned and so he thought he would come out and see if 
anything could be done. 

The judge looked over the title papers and said he 
thought it could be fixed up. So he swore in the witness 
with whom he was acquainted and procuring pen and ink 
from his tenant fixed up the papers. The judge and the 
resl of them were in their shirt sleeves and Lincoln re- 
marked that it was a kind of a shirt sleeve court. "Yes," 
replied the judge, *'a shirt sleeve court in a corn field." After 
the business had been transacted, Mr. Lincoln asked Judge 
Thomas if he did not want some help in rolling up the logs 
and the judge replied that there were two logs that were 
pretty heavy and he would like to have a little help in rolling 
them up. Before they lefl they helped roll them up. 
Lincoln steered one end and the judge the other. 
Ross offered to pay the judge for taking the deposition ol 
hi- witness, but he guessed lie had paid enough with the 
raising of the logs to pay for that and would take nothing 
for his work. When they got back to Lincoln's office they 
had walked about three miles. Lincoln put the papers in 
a large envelope with the nanus of Stewart & Lincoln 
printed at the to]». "Now, said he. when you get home put 
these papers on record and you will have a good title to 
your land." Loss then took out his pocket book to pay 
him and supposed he would charge about ten dollar-. He 
knew that Lincoln was moderate in his charges. "Now, 
Mr. Lincoln, said he. how much shall I pay you for this 
long walk through the hot sun and dust?" Lincoln paused 



44 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

for a moment, took the large handkerchief and wiped the 
perspiration from off his face and said, "I guess I will not 
charge anything for that. I will let it go on the old score." 
When he said that Ross could not keep the tears back for 
he could recall many instances when Lincoln had been so 
good and kind to him when he was carrying the mail through 
Salem years before. But when he said he would charge 
nothing for his work it was more kindness than Ross could 
stand. Lincoln probably meant by "old score" that he 
had helped him in his store and in the postoffice, and that 
his father had helped him to get the postoffice. Now there 
is something remarkable in the history of these two men 
who worked in rolling up those two logs. It showed that 
the prominent men of that time were not too proud to 
engage in common labor. Judge Jesse B. Thomas, who was 
at one end of the log, had served as a member of the terri- 
torial legislature, had twice been elected to the United 
States senate, once as a supreme judge was a member of 
the constitutional convention, which formed the first con- 
stitution of Illinois and he had done more and exerted more 
influence toward making the state of Illinois a slave state 
than any other man. The man at the other end of the log 
was Abraham Lincoln, the great emancipator, who after- 
wards served in the legislature, in congress and as president 
of the United States. It was his pen, which set four million 
of slaves free He did more to banish slavery from the 
Lmited States than any other man. The name of Judge 
Thomas is lost in oblivion while the name of Lincoln stands 
on the top round of the world's greatest benefactors. 

It is related that while in the White House Lincoln 
was called on by a lot of English snobs, for whom he had 
no great love or reverence. They sat back on their dignity. 
Abe sauntered around the room and talked to them oc- 
casionally and finallv he picked up an old blacking brush, 
put his foot on a chair and began to brush off his old shoes 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 43 

in a careless manner. The English dudes were astounded 
and one of them managed to say. "Why. Mr. Lincoln, no 
man who belongs to the aristocracy in England blacks his 
own shoes." Lincoln quickly replied, "Whose shoes does 
he black then ?" The dudes saw the point and soon excused 
themselves and departed. If there was one thing that Lincoln 
despised it was snobbishness. He never got so high on 
the pinnacle of fame that he forgot the common class of 
people. He never forgot the rock from which he was 
hewn. 

The comity of Menard was set off from Sangamon in 
[840 and the county seal was located at Petersburg, li 
was not until [844 that the new court house was finished. 
In the meantime court was held in an old store house in 
Main street aboul three blocks south of the public square. 
The court house was in the middle of the block. The room 
wa> _'4x0o. A railing on the west end made a place for 
the lawyers and the judge. Judge Treat presided for several 
years. The best lawyers from Springfield attended and 
they were intellectual giants. Though hut a boy of ten or 
twelve years, I well remember the legal battles which were 
fought there. I call to mind a -nil that was of mure than 
unusual interest and which attracted a large crowd. 1 
think I heard the whole trial, which lasted about two days 
'Idle case was Dr. John Allen against Samuel Hill, the 
merchant. Hill and Allen had both moved down from 
Salem and were prominent men. Their lives were as dit 
fercnt as black and white. Allen had come from the easl and 
was a strict member of the old Presbyterian church. He 
had hardly landed in the country when he began to canvass 
for the souls as well as the bodies of men. He opened up 
a Sunday school in his house. He also held a prayer meet 
ing and formed a temperance society, ddiis caused a great 
deal of commotion in that section. Old church members 
were Allen's hitter opponents, and yet he lived to see a 



46 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

complete revolution in the sentiments of the people. Allen 
spent all of his spare time doing missionary work and died 
about twenty-five years ago, much respected and beloved by 
the entire community. Hill did not take much stock in 
Allen's sentiments. He had sold liquor in his store and he 
was not a "meetin' man." He had the rowdy part of the 
community for his comrades. Though not much of a man 
physicallv when he had a grudge against a man he could 
hire some old bluffer to whip him. At one time he hired 
John Fergeson to whip Jack Armstrong and gave him a 
set of blue-edged plates for doing it. 



LINCOLN ATTENDS A CIRCUS 

In the summer of 1833 the first circus and menagerie 
ever known in the west was billed to be in Springfield while 
Mr. Lincoln was postmaster at Salem. The putting up 
of the bills created intense excitement in all the Springfield 
country. Thousands of the pioneers had never seen such 
a show. Ross who carried the mail at that time, though 
living in Havana, was determined if possible to be in Spring- 
field to see the street parade, which was to take place at 12 
o'clock and also to see the show. So he started the night 
before at 1 2 o'clock with the mail and got to Salem at sun- 
rise the next morning. He went to the tavern to get his 
breakfast and have his horse fed and was told that Lincoln 
had gone to the country the day before to do some survey- 
ing and had not returned, and that Bill Berry, his partner, 
had been to a dance the night before. The dance did not 
break up till daylight and Bill was well nigh filled up with 
egguog and Ross feared that he would have some trouble 
waking him up to change the mail. After breakfast he 
found Bill in a profound slumber in a little room adjoining 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 



47 



the pestoffice. For a half hour Ross pounded on the door 
and veiled and shouted, but all in vain. It would have taken 
the angel Gabriel's trumpet to wake him up. So Ross threw 
his mail bag's across his horse and went on his journey. He 
left the mail that belong-ed to Salem at Sangamon and 




LINCOLN MONUMENT AT SPRINGFIELD, ILL 



asked the postmaster to keep il until the next daw when he 
w i mid get it i m his return. I le hurried i m and g< »t t< > Spring 
field in tune t< i s L x- the parade. 

There was a mighty host of people in town who had 
come from far and near. Some had come twenty miles. 



48 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

bringing their families with them. It was wonderful what an 
attraction a circus was. 1 have seen the Bottomites, as they 
were called at Havana, commence gathering money a month 
ahead of a show. They would bring blackberries, or a load 
of clapboards, or rails, or anything that would sell for money. 
Some would do without coffee, whisky or tobacco until they 
had enough money saved to go to the show, or just to take 
their children to see the animals. Another class and a 
meaner one I think is the man who goes to town and sees 
the street parade and then is too little to pay his money to 
go into the tent and patronize the show. 

Probably there never was such excitement in Springfield 
as there was that day except on two other occasions. The 
first was when Lincoln piloted the Tailsman up the San- 
gamon and landed her near Springfield. The people then 
believed that the Sangamon would always be navigable for 
steamboats and they were wild with excitement with the 
outlook for Springfield's prosperity. The other great ex- 
citement was when the state capitol was moved from Van- 
dalia to Springfield. There were two things connected with 
the show which astonished the people wonderfully. One 
was a monster anaconda snake eighteen feet long, and the 
other a young lady who stood on a horse and rode at fuli 
speed around the ring. If there was anything that would 
bring fear and terror to the early settlers it was the sight of 
a snake. They had seen so many cases where people had 
been bitten by snakes and the terrible sufferings they had en- 
dured that thev had good reasons to dread snakes. The 
snake in the garden of Eden has done so much damage to 
the human family that we may well beware of snakes. So 
when the showman took the monster from the iron cage and 
it crawled upon his shoulders with its hideous head extended 
far above him and with its forked tongue darting out six 
inches and its baneful eyes that looked like balls of fire, the 
audience was transfixed with terror. But when the show- 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 49 

man commenced to carry the hideous thing around the ring 
close to the people, the women would scream, the children 
cry and the men would yell for the snake to be put in the 
cage. So the showman had to stop the horrid performance 
and put the anaconda back in the cage or there would have 
been a general stampede from the big tent. However, the 
people approached cautiously afterwards to gaze upon the 
big snake. The people were entranced with the spangled 
young woman who rode at full speed around the ring stand- 
ing upon the horse. It was a common sight in those days to 
see a woman driving horses while they held the plow, or to 
see them on horseback going to the mill. The pioneer girls 
and women were expert horsewomen in a side saddle or even 
bare back. But when it came to a pretty girl standing on a 
horse going at full speed it took the people's breath away 
and made their heart- stand -till. No mortal of them could 
ever have believed thai a girl could do a thing like that until 
they had seen it. 

No rain had fallen in Springfield for several weeks and 
the black dust lay dee]) in all the roads and streets. The 
big crowd kept it well stirred up and the women ami children 
in their holiday clothes were ;i sight to behold. 

Mr. Lincoln got back to Salem a few hours after Ross 
had passed thr< nigh and was a little displeased because he had 
not left the mail, not knowing the cause. With every man 
and woman, who paid his and her way, Mr. Lincoln went to 
the show. After the performance was over Ross met, Lin- 
coln on the -treet and a- they met Ross noticed a scowl on 
Lincoln's face. Lincoln said to him "I low did it happen 
that you did not have the mail changed when you came 
through Salem: You might get me in trouble about this. 
Suppose the postmaster at Springfield should report the fact 
that the mail was nol changed at Salem to the department 
at Washington, but was brought on to Springfield. What 
would happen to me?" But when Ro-s told him the whole 



50 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

story, how he had gotten up at 12 o'clock at night so he 
could get to Springfield to see the show come to town, and 
that he had never seen a show and how anxious he was to see 
one and how hard he had tried to get Billy Berry up to open 
the mail and that he had not brought the mail to Springfield 
but had left it at Sangamon and would carry it back to 
Salem in the morning, Mr. Lincoln in a kind voice said. 
"Oh, well that is all right. Bill Berry ought to have gotten 
up and changed the mail for you." Then he said, "I am 
going home this evening and I will stop and get the mail and 
carry it home with me." Ross found next day that he had 
done so. 

When Ross met Lincoln he noticed that he had a new suit 
of clothes on and a new hat. While talking to him Ross 
had a good opportunity to scrutinize his whole wardrobe 
and he could remember everything he had on. The coat 
and pants were of brown linen, the vest white with dots of 
flowers in it. The shirt was open front and buttoned up 
with small ivory buttons. The collar was wide and folded 
over the collar of his coat. He had for a necktie a black 
silk handkerchief with a narrow fringe to it and it was tied 
in a double bow. He wore a pair of low shoes tied in a 
double bow over the instep. He had a buckeye hat on. It 
was made of buckeye splints and was much like the fashion- 
able straw hats. The buckeye hats were much worn in those 
days and cost twice as much as a straw hat or from $1.25 to 
$1.50 apiece. So the reader may see how Mr. Lincoln 
looked when dressed for a circus. 

When Ross got back to Salem next morning he found 
that Lincoln had given the people their mail and that Bill 
Berry was very sorry for his misconduct, and that Lincoln 
had washed off the Springfield dust and was as amiable and 
happy as ever. 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 51 



PRESIDENT LINCOLN'S FIRST DOLLAR 

During- an evening in the executive chamber a number 
of gentlemen were present and among them was 'Sir. Sew- 
ard. A point in the conversation suggested the thought and 
Lincoln said : "Seward, did you ever hear how I earned my 
first dollar." "No," said Seward. "Well.*' replied Mr. 
Lincoln, "I was about eighteen years of age ; I belonged, you 
know, to what they called the scrubs. People who did not 
own land or slaves were nobody then. However, we suc- 
ceeded in raising sufficient produce, as I thought, to justify 
me in taking it down the river to sell. After much persua- 
sion I got my mother's consent to go. I constructed a flat 
boat large enough to carry the barrel, other tilings, which 
we had gathered, myself and a little bundle down to New 
Orleans. A steamboat was coming down the river — we 
have no wharf, you know — and the custom was if passen- 
gers were at the landings for them to get out in a boat, the 
steamer stopping and taking them on board. I was con- 
templating my new flat boal and wondering whether I could 
improve it in any particular way. when two men came down 
to the shore in carriages with trunks and looking at the dif- 
ferent boats they singled out mine and asked: 'Who owns 
this?' I answered somewhat modestly, 'I do.' 'Will you,' 
said one of them, 'take us and our trunks out to the steamer?' 
'Certainly,' said I. I was very glad to have the opportunity 
to earn something. I supposed they would give me a quar- 
ter. The trunks were put on the boat and the passengers 
seated themselves on the trunks and I sculled them out to the 
steamboat. They got on board and I lifted in their trunks 
and put them on the deck. The steamer was about to put on 
steam again and I called out that they had forgotten to pay 
me. Each of them took from his pocket a silver half dollar 



5-> 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 



and threw them on the floor of my boat. I could scarcely 
believe my eyes as I picked up the money. Gentlemen, you 
may think it a very little thing, and in these days it seems 
like a trifle, but it was the most important thing in my life. 
I could scarcely credit that I, a poor boy, had earned a dollar 
in less than a day and that I had earned it by honest work. 
The world seemed wider and fairer before me. I was more 
hopeful and confident than before." 




CHAPTER IV. 



LINCOLN AT SALEM 




THE time that Mr. Lincoln lived Salem was a 
great place of resort for the young men. Boys 
from Clary's Grove, Wolf county, Sangamon 
and Sand Ridge would gather together at 
Salem on Saturday and there indulge in horse racing, toot 
racing, wrestling, jumping, ball playing and shoot- 
ing at a mark for beef. A beef always had five 
quarters when shot for. The hide and tallow made the fifth 
quarter. The hoys also indulged in gander pulling, which 
was, I think a western game. 1 learned from some college 
professors at the < >ld Salem Chautauqua that southern peo- 
ple never heard of gander pulling. I was taking a lot of 
southern men over the Salem hill and I showed them a spot 
where gander pulling was indulged in. and I had to explain 
to them the manner in which it was played. An old tough 
gander was tied to a swinging limb of a tree with his head 
down about eight feet above the ground, I lis neck was 
well greased and a man by paying ten cent- would have a 
chance to get the gander by riding at full speed under the 
bird, and if he could grab him by the neck and pull his head 
off it was his. Under our code of laws a man would he 
prosecuted for cruelty to animals if he should undertake 
such a business. So we have progressed in that respect and 
have retrograded in another. We condemn Mexico and 
Spain for their hull fights, and as Christians have instead 



54 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

our prize fights, where two old duffers stand up before ten 
thousand people and knock each other. On all days for 
sports Lincoln would generally take a lay off and join the 
others. He was stout and active and a match for any of 
them. I do not think that he bet on any of the games or 
races, but the boys had so much confidence in his honesty, 
and knew that he would see fair play that he was often 
chosen as judge to determine the winners. His decisions 
were always regarded as just. 

Lincoln generally made the subject of internal improve- 
ments the theme of his speeches, and he would speak of the 
great sources of the State of Illinois and the wonderful op- 
portunities that lay before the young men if they would only 
improve them. In these speeches he seldom spoke of pol- 
itics, so all were pleased and none offended and the meetings 
generally closed with three cheers for Lincoln and a general 
hand-shaking. The people would go home happy and a 
few of them would not come to town till the next Saturday. 
Mr. Lincoln was not only chosen as judge of horse races, 
but was often arbitrator in disputes between his neighbors 
and saved them many expensive law suits. A justice of the 
peace came into his office one day and complained that he 
had been cruelly wronged by him. He claimed that Lincoln 
deprived him of his fees and interfered with his business. 
Mr. Lincoln replied that he could not bear to see his neigh- 
bors spend their money in litigation and become enemies for 
life when he could prevent it. When these cases were 
brought before him he would generally give satisfaction to 
both parties, and when one was in the wrong he would point 
out his error and convince him before he left. 

Bill Herendon was a son of Archie Herendon, who built 
and kept one of the first hotels in Spring-field. It was called 
the Herendon House. He was a prominent politician, had 
been elected state Senator and held several other offices. He 
was a Whig and a warm personal friend of Lincoln's. Bill 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 55 

Herendon, whose book we criticised severely in a former ar- 
ticle, was possessed of one trait of character which many 
people objected to. It was the delight he took in playing 
jokes on people. He did not seem to care how much misery 
he caused as long as he could make a little fun out it. In 
the fall of 1836 Harvey L. Ross was sent to Jacksonville 
college and he had a room-mate by the name of Potter, of 
Chicago. He had been there only a few weeks when Bill 
Herendon put in his appearance. He said he had come to 
attend college and wanted to know if Ross would take him 
iW a room-mate as he was the only student with whom he 
was acquainted. He was told that if Potter would give his 
consent no objection would be offered. Potter said he would 
be willing if they would furnish him bedding. As Ross 
had a large room and ;i large bed they bunked together. 
Ross asked Herendon where his trunk was and he replied 
that had come from home in a hurry and did not bring it 
but that his folks would -end it by the next stage. Then he 
commenced to laugh and Ross suspected that he was up to 
some of his old tricks. He said to him: "Now Bill, you 
have been up to some devilment and yon must tell us what 
it is and then get away." Herendon said that there had 
been an election for county officers up in Sangamon county 
and that one of the political parites had paid him a dollar 
and half to take some tickets to a precinct a few miles from 
Springfield to distribute them to the voters. After he had 
gone about a mile he was overtaken by a young man who 
had a package of tickets for the opposing party. The young 
man offered Herendon a dollar and a half if he would take 
his tickets and distribute them among the voters. Heren- 
don accepted the offer and the first creek he came to he 
soused the tickets in. leaving the men who voted that ticket 
the alternative of voting the other ticket or not voting at all. 
This act raised such a storm of wrath among the first party 
who employed him that he decided to go away until the 



56 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

storm passed over. He told the story with such glee and 
merriment that one would think he had done something re- 
markably cute. Herendon had not been long at college un- 
til it was evident that he was brim full of devilment and there 
was scarcely a week during the time he stayed that he was 
not up before the faculty for some misdemeanor. 

There was nothing bad about him that made him act ac- 
he did, but he wanted to gain notoriety and astonish people 
After he left college he clerked in a store in Springfield for 
a long time and then commenced the study of law. He 
applied himself to his studies and was 25 years old when he 
went in with Lincoln. Lincoln was 34 years old. At that 
time it was thought a little strange that Lincoln should take 
into partnership such a young and inexperienced lawyer as 
Bill Herendon, but he had his reasons. Bill's father had 
been a friend of Lincoln's for a great many years and he 
was a very influential man in Sangamon county. He had 
always helped Lincoln in every way and it was in payment 
for this kindness that Lincoln took his son into his office. 
It was a parallel case with that of Bill Berry whom Lincoln 
took into partnership in his Salem store. Both fathers 
wanted their sons in partnership with an honest man. There 
was another reason. Both of Lincoln's other partners, John 
L. Stewart and Stephen Logan, like himself, were aspirants 
for political honors, and he had learned that a law office 
could not be run when all of the members wanted to be Con- 
gressmen. As Bill was young and showed no disposition 
to run into politics, he thought it was a safe thing to do to 
take him into partnership. Bill did apply himself to the 
business and gave perfect satisfaction to the firm and to the 
people for whom he transacted business up to the time of 
Lincoln's death. But for some unaccountable reason after 
Lincoln's death he commenced to drink — a thing he never 
did before in his life. 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 57 

By the act of empancipation Mr. Lincoln built for him- 
self forever the first place in the affections of the African 
race in this country. The love and reverence manifested for 
him by many of these poor ignorant people has on some oc- 
casions almost reached adoration. One day Col. McKay, 
of New York, who was one of the committee selected to in- 
vestigate the condition of the freedman, upon his return 
from Hilton Head and Beauport called on the president and 
related the following incident: lie had been speaking of 
the ideas of power entertained by these poor black people. 
They had an idea of God as the Almighty. They had no 
knowledge of any other power. Their masters had tied upon 
the approach of our army and this gave the slaves the con- 
ception of a power greater than their masters. This power 
they called "Massa Linkum." Col. McKay said that their 
place of worship was a large building, which the called "The 
Praise House," and their leader was a venerable black man 
known as the "Praise Man." On a certain day when there 
was a large gathering of people, considerable confusion was 
created by different persons attempting to tell who and what 
"Massa Linkum" was. In the midst of the excitement the 
white headed leader commanded silence. "Bredren," said 
he. "you don't know what youse talkin bout. Now jus 
lis'en to me. Massa Linkum he be ebry whare. lie 
knows ebry ting." Then solemnly looking up he added, 
"He walk de earf like de Lord." Mr. Lincoln was much 
affected by this account, lie did not smile as another 
might, but got up from his chair and walked in silence two 
or three times across the floor, and as he resumed his seal 
he said: "It is a momentous thing to be an instrument in 
the hands of Providence in liberating: a race." 



58 Reminiscences of Lincoln 



LINCOLN AS A LAWYER, ON HORSEBACK 

In early days before the railroad dispensation, it was 
customary for the noted lawyers, most of whom lived in 
Springfield, to attend the courts within a radius of one hun- 
dred miles of the capitol city. They would go on horseback 
and start out in pairs, or often singly for Jacksonville, De- 
catur, Clinton, Bloomington, Tremont, Peoria, Galesburg r 
Lewistown, Rushville, Beardstown and by that time they 
had completed the circle. At nights they would put up at 
hotels and compare notes, tell anecdotes and the people of 
the town would gather in and enjoy the conversation. It 
is not saying too much that Lincoln was the center of attrac- 
tion. His wonderful resource and wit would always place 
him at the head of entertainers. When Lincoln first com- 
menced to practice law nothing brought him so prominently 
before the public as his punctuality in collecting debts for his 
clients and paying over the money. At that time two-thirds 
of the business was done on credit. The Illinois merchants 
would buy their goods from eastern and St. Louis mer- 
chants on twelve months' credit and sell them to farmers on 
the same terms. The consequence was that the notes were 
not paid and were sent to a lawyer for collection, and then 
it would be as much trouble to get the money from the law- 
yer as from the customer. When Lincoln collected any 
money he immediately turned it over to the creditor. In 
that way he built up a practice which extended over the 
country and earned for him the name of "Honest Abe Lin- 
coln." 

Ross tells about meeting him in the spring of 1838 be- 
tween Canton and Lewistown. It was two miles north of 
Lewistown. and as they rode along Lincoln told him that he 
had been attending court in Knox and Warren counties and 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 59 

that he was then on his way back to Springfield. As it was 
late in the clay and as the roads were very muddy. Mr. Lin- 
coln said that he would stay in Lewistown over night and he 
inquired about the taverns. Ross directed him to Truman 
Phelps' tavern, as it was the best, so he stayed there over 
night. He had a large portmanteau on his saddle. It ap- 
peared to be well tilled with law books and clothing. He 
was dressed in a suit of Kentucky jeans over which he wore 
a heavy overcoat, having four capes and a standing collar 
and fastened with a hook and clasp. He also wore a pair 
of green baize legging-, wrapped three times around the leg 
and tied just below the knee. The regular meeting of the 
Lewistown Lyceum was held on the night that Mr. Lincoln 
remained there, so he attended. The meetings were at- 
tended by both ladies and gentlemen, and were held in the 
old Methodist church, two blocks west of the court house. 
The subject tor discussion that evening was "Which has 
done the most for the establishment and maintenance of 
our republican form of government and free institutions, 
the pen or the sword?" Mr. Lincoln was invited to take 
part in the debate, which he did. The men speaking on 
the side of the sword were Lewis Ross, Richard Johnson 
and Joseph Sharp (all lawyers). Those speaking for the 
pen were J. I'. Boice, Abraham Lincoln (lawyers) and 
William Kelly, a merchant of Lewistown. The speakers 
for the sword commenced with George Washington and ran 
down to Gen. Jackson and other generals who had gained 
great vict< iries by the sw< »rd. 

When Lincoln commenced hi- speech lie eulogized the 
Other side for the effort they had made, but he said that 
they had omitted one of the valiant generals who had lived 
in their own country. For instance, he said, there is Gen. 
Stillman, who led the volunteers in the Black Hawk war. 
When he mentioned the name of Gen. Stillman a smile 
came over the face of everyone present, for they well re- 



60 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

membered the general's defeat and how Black Hawk with 
his little band of Indians had driven him with his large 
force fifteen miles into Fort Dixon. After Lincoln joked 
them a little about their generals he entered into the sub- 
ject in earnest and quoted from Patrick Henry, Benjamin 
Franklin and many other great men, and he showed that 
he was well posted in the writings and history of our 
country. He made a royal good speech and the judges 
awarded his side the victory much to the delight of 
Messrs Boice and Kelly. Mr. Lincoln was dressed in a 
suit of jeans with heavy boots and looked like a farmer, 
and the people were very much surprised when they heard 
his speech. A number of ladies attended the meeting and 
Miss Isabel Johnson remarked that she thought the rough 
looking farmer man had made the best speech of the even- 
ing. Attorney Johnson, who was one of Lincoln's op- 
ponents in the debate, and who was known more familiarly 
as Dick Johnson, went to California in 1850 and was elected 
attorney general and held several other important offices. 
He called on Ross after he had went to California, and 
asked him if he remembered the time when he and Lincoln 
measured the sword and pen in the old Methodist church in 
Lewistown. He said he little thought that the man who 
defeated him then would some day become the president of 
the United States. Mr. Lincoln was well acquainted with 
the events of the Black Hawk war, for he enlisted three 
times. The first time volunteers were called out by Gov. 
Reynolds. It was for three months and Mr. Lincoln was 
elected captain of his company. After the company had 
served the three months and was discharged Lincoln again 
enlisted and served until the close of the war. 

Ross relates the circumstances connected with Lincoln's 
speech in Lewistown in 1858, when he and Douglass were 
canvassing the state for United States senator. He was 
then living in Vermont, twenty miles from Lewistown, 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 6i 

and he and his wife drove to Lewistown to hear Lincoln 
speak. Mrs. Ross had often heard her husband speak of 
Lincoln's kindness to him when he was a lad carrying the 
mail and she wanted to hear him speak. This was the 
only political meeting she had ever attended though she 
had been married a long time. They found Lincoln at L. 
W. Ross' house sitting on the west porch. Mr. Lincoln 
delivered his address in front of the old court house on a 
platform between two of the pillars. There were seat- foi 
four or five hundred people and they were mostly occupied 
by ladies. There were from two to three thousand people 
present. Lincoln spoke on the repeal of the Missouri com- 
promise and of the steady and Mire encroachment of slavery 
on the free territory. This speech was considered one of 
his best. Ross sal in a front seal and his mind was carried 
back twenty-five years when he attended the circus at Spring- 
field. He thought of the way in which Lincoln was dressed 
that day and how he chastised him for coming through 
Salem without having the mail changed. In place of the 
short pants, brown linen coat, low shoes tied across the 
instep and buckeye hat (mentioned in a former article) he 
wore a fine light linen suit, fine boots and a silk hat. Major 
New ton Walker and John Proctor accompanied him to the 
court house in a carriage, and the next day Major Walker 
took him in his carriage to Canton, where he was to speak. 
I le spoke as if the spirit of inspiration rested on him when 
he quoted the Declaration of Independence. He said that it 
was made for all men. It was not for the rich, for if it 
were many would be left out. It was not for the red man 
nor the white or black man. but it was made for all men 
and all races, and he seemed to view the future with prophetic 
visii >n. 

When Lincoln ran for the legislature in [832 and was 
defeated by Peter Cartright, he was not discouraged, \<>v 
Cartright was one of the strongest and mosl popular men 



62 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 



in the country. It was a stimulous to greater activity by 
him, and in all probability it was a providential thing that 
he was not elected, for he was only twenty-three years old 
and had not applied himself to that diligent study, which 
prepared him for the great duties, which he was after- 
wards called on to perform. After his defeat he applied 
himself to his books so that in 1834, when he was two years 
older and considerably wiser, his friends again brought him 
out. He was elected by a handsome majority and was again 




LINCOLN'S OLD HOME AT SALEM ILL. 



elected in 1836, 1838 and 1840, serving four^terms in all. 
In 1846 he was elected to congress. 

I will now go back and state a few facts in regard to 
Mr. Lincoln's storekeeping and tell how he became involved 
in a debt, which hung over him for many years. There 
have been many misstatements in regard to it. When Mr. 
Lincoln kept the postofhce the salary which he received did 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 6$ 

not afford him a fair living, and it kept him in doors so 
he could not pursue any other occupation. There was a 
young man by the name of William Berry, who lived four 
miles southwest of town with his father. Rev. John M. 
Berry, who was a Cumberland Presbyterian and a man of 
considerable property. William had attended the Jackson- 
ville college and was a smart, intelligent young man. but in- 
clined to be a little wild. His father knowing the good 
habits of Lincoln induced him to take William into partner- 
ship and they purchased a store, paying a small part down 
and giving three notes for the balance. They kept the 
store in the same building with the postoffice and had as 
fair a trade as any of the merchants in the town. 



LINCOLN'S APPEARANCE 

In person Abraham Lincoln was tall and rugged, with 
little semblance of any historical portrait, unless he might 
seem in one respect to justify the epithet which was given 
to an early English monarch. Mi^ countenance had even 
more of a rugged strength than his person. Perhaps the 
quality which struck most at first sight was his simplicity 
of manners and conversation, which were without form or 
ceremony of any kind. I lis hand writing had the same 
simplicity. It was as clear as Washington's, but less florid. 
He was naturally inclined to pardon and never remembered 
the hard things said to him. lie was always good to the 
poor and his dealings with them were full of those little 
words which are of the same blood as good and holy deeds. 
Such a character awakened instinctively the sympathy of 
the people. They saw his fellow feeling with them and felt 
the kinship. As when he was president the idea of repub- 



64 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

lican institutions, where no place is too high for the hum- 
blest, was perpetually manifested so that his mere presence 
was like a proclamation of the equality of all men. While 
social in his nature and enjoying a good flow of conversa- 
tion, he was often singularly reticent. Modesty was natural 
to such a character, as he was without affectation. He was 
without pretense or jealousy. No person — civil or military 
■ — can complain that he appropriated any honor belonging 
to another. To each and all he gave the credit that was- 
due. His humor has almost become a proverb. Sometimes 
lie insisted that he had no invention, but only a memory. 
He did not forget the good things that he had heard, and 
was never without a familiar story to illustrate his mean- 
ing. At times his illustrations had a homely argument,, 
which he always enforced with a certain intensity of man- 
ner and voice. He was original in mind as in character and 
his style was his own. It was formed from no model, but 
sprung directly from himself. While often failing in cor- 
rectness, it was unique in beauty and sentiment. There 
are passages of his which will live always. His Gettysburg 
speech will live in the world's oratory as long as time shall' 
last. Such passages will make an epoch in state papers. 
No president's message or speech from a throne ever had 
such a touching reality. While these speeches were uttered' 
from the height of power, they reveal a simple trust in 
Almighty God, and speak to the people as equal to equal. 
There was one theme in which he was disposed to conduct 
the public mind. It was the treatment of the rebel leaders.. 
His policy was never announced, but it was well known that 
at the very moment of his assassination he was much occu- 
pied with thoughts of pardon. He was never harsh. Even 
in regard to Jefferson Davis a few days before his end, one 
who was privileged to speak in that way, said: "Do not 
allow him to escape the law. He must be hanged." The 
president calmly replied in the words that he adopted in 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 65 

his last inaugural address: "Judge not that ye be not 
judged." And when pressed again by the remark that the 
sight of Libby Prison made it impossible to pardon him, he 
repeated twice the words, unmistakably revealing the gen- 
erous sentiments of his heart. 



AS A LAWYER 

Lincoln belonged to the reasoning class of men. He 
dealt with his own mind and turned things over, seeking 
the truth until he established it and it became a conviction. 
As a lawyer he never claimed anything for his client. Me 
stated something of both sides of the case. He has been 
heard to say: "Now 1 do not think my client is entitled 
t<> the whole of what he claims. In this or in that point 
he may have been in error. He must rebate something of 
his claim."" He was very careful about giving offense, and 
it" he had something severe to say he would turn to his op- 
ponent or to the party referred to and say, "I don't like to 
use this language," or "I am sorry thai I have to be hard 
on that gentleman." 

Therefore, what lie did say was very effective and he 
very seldom wounded the parties interested. Throughout 
Mr. Lincoln's life that kind of wisdom attended him and 
made him great and skillful in handling the people. He 
had a smooth, manly, pleasing voice, and when arguing in 
court that voice attracted the jury and did not tire them 
as the_\- followed the argument throughout. He was not a 
graceful man. He would lean on the back (>\ a chair or 
stand with his arms folded. Yet there was a pleasure in 
hearing him. A lady once said that he was the best look- 
ing ugly man she ever -aw. 

5 



66 Reminiscences of Lincoln 



HOW HE TRADED HO'SES 

When Mr. Lincoln was a lawyer in Illinois he and a cer- 
tain judge got to bantering one another about trading- 
horses and it was agreed that next morning at 9 o'clock 
they should make a trade — the horses to be unseen until 
that hour and no backing out under a forfeit of $25. At 
the appointed hour the judge came up leading the worst 
looking specimen of a horse ever seen in those parts. In a 
few minutes Mr. Lincoln was seen approaching with a 
wooden saw horse on his shoulder. Great shouts of laughter 
from the crowd were greatly increased when Mr. Lincoln, 
after surveying the judge's animal, sat down his saw horse 
and exclaimed: "Well, judge, this is the first time I ever 
got the worst of it in a horse trade." 



HE PREFERRED GRANT'S WHISKY 

It the war of the rebellion the officers were very jealous 
of one another. Many of the defeats might be traced to 
the officers being afraid that some other man would get the 
honor of a victory. Gen. Palmer was always kicking for 
promotion till he kicked himself out of the army. Before 
the war was half over a lot of these officers, being jealous of 
Grant's continued victories, waited on old Abe and clamored 
for Grant's removal. He heard their complaints and asked 
them what was the matter with Grant. "Isn't he a good 
fighter," said he. "Yes," replied the officers, "but he drinks 
too much whisky." "What kind of whisky does he drink?" 
asked Lincoln. The officers could not tell. "Well." said 
Lincoln, "I wanted to know, for if I could find out I would 
order a barrel of the kind Grant drinks for each one of the 
generals in the army." They saw the point and quietly 
withdrew. 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 



67 



MR. LINCOLN'S APT REPLY 

Lincoln's opponent for the legislature in 1836 was the 
Hon. George Forquer of Springfield, who was celebrated 
for having introduced the first lightning rod in Springfield. 
He said in a speech in Lincoln's presence. "This young 
man will have to be taken down and I am sorry that the 
task falls on me." He then proceeded to take him down. 
Mr. Lincoln made a reply and in closing turned to the 
crowd and said. "Fellow citizens, it is not for me to say 
whether I am up or down. This gentleman had alluded 
to my being a young man. I am older in years than in 
the trades and tricks of politicians. 1 desire to live and 
desire place and distinction, but I would rather die now 
than like this gentleman live to see the day that I would 
have to erect a lightning rod to protect a guilty conscience 
tr< >m an offended ( rod." 




CHAPTER V. 



ROSS AND LINCOLN 






ARVEY L. ROSS, of Oakland, Calif., gives a 
very interesting account of his first acquaint- 
ance with Abraham Lincoln. It was in 1832, 
just after Lincoln had moved to Salem and 
Harvey was carrying mail from Lewistown to Havana. It 
had to be carried twice a week on horseback. Harvey was 
a young stripling and chose to carry the mail rather than 
work on the farm or clerk in the store. At this time Mr. 
Lincoln was postmaster and also clerked at Hill's store. 
The postoffices between Lewistown and Springfield were 
Havana. Salem, Athens and Sangamon. Lincoln was post- 
master at Salem, and Ross was there four times a week. 
He was only a few years younger than Lincoln and they 
were very intimate. Ross put up at the hotel where Lin- 
coln boarded and often assisted him in the store and helped 
him sort the mail and would often carry packages for him 
to customers along the road. He afterwards met him often 
while attending court in Mason county. In the beginning 
court was held in Havana. It was held in the bar room of 
the hotel and some of the bed rooms were used for jury 
rooms. Ross recollects one time when Abraham Lincoln 
was attorney for Frank Low in a suit against Reuben Coon 
for slander in which Low got judgment against Coon for 
$500. The first time Ross and Lincoln met was at Jack 
Armstrong's, five miles north of Salem. Lincoln often 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 69 

stayed at Armstrong's. Sometimes he would stay a month 
at a time. They thought a great deal of Abe as Hannah 
Armstrong called him. When Jack Armstrong had any 
work to do he would get Lincoln to help him, as his boys 
were small. Hannah would do Abe's sewing, patching, 
mending, knit his socks and darn them. In fact she treated 
him as a son. Abe never forgot her kindness and was 
enabled in after years to fully repay her. When Ross first 
met Lincoln at Armstrong's he asked him who he was. He 
said he was Abe Lincoln and that he was working for a 
few days for Jack Armstrong. He was tall and slender and 
dressed in home-made jeans, about the same kind that the 
majority of the young men wore at that time. The next 
time he met him was at the Rutledge tavern in Salem. He 
was at that time working for Samuel Hill, the Salem mer- 
chant. Hill kept the only permanent store in Salem. He 

had all the kind- of g Is that the people called for. He 

kept blue calico, muslin and chain. Every person did their 
own weaving or had it done. Jean was a staple article. It 
was mostly colored blue, but occasionally butternut, which 
was a brown. The stores all kept a lot of home-made peans 
in stock. I think the prices ran from 30 to 40 cent- a 
yard. 

The boys who went to college in those days spent their 
vacations on the farms. Among these were Richard Yates, 
the great war governor, and William Green, better known 
as Slicky Bill Green. Lincoln had been helping his father 
in the hay harvest. Green -aid that Lincoln could pitch 
more hay than any other hand his father had. When Lin- 
coln found that Green had been to college he asked him if 
he had brought any books home with him. Green replied 
that he had. and Lincoln told him that he never had the 
advantage of an education and said he would like to study 
grammar and arithmetic. He asked Green if he would as- 



jo Reminiscences of Lincoln 

sist him and Green said that he would. Lincoln said that 
the country surveyor, Mr. Calhoun, at Springfield, had 
been talking about appointing him deputy surveyor if he 
would qualify himself for the place. He was anxious to get 
the position as there was a good deal of surveying to be 
done around Salem. So Lincoln would get up early in 
the morning and feed the horses and then, with the help of 
Green, go at the grammar and arithmetic until breakfast. 
At night they would resume their studies. After Mr. Lin- 
coln returned to the store at Salem, Green would take his 
books when he went to town and they would study under 
the shade trees. Green said he never saw anyone who could 
learn as fast as Lincoln. In fact Lincoln did qualify him- 
self and made one of the best surveyors they ever had in 
that part of the country. A friendship sprung up between 
Green and Lincoln that only ended in death. In time of 
the rebellion Green was one of Lincoln's most trusted 
friends and was often sent on errands connected with the 
war. It was related that Green and a few of his Menard 
friends went, in one of the dark periods of the war, to see 
the president. The White House was guarded by a cordon 
or soldiers. Green and his friends were unable to gain en- 
trance, but Green's wit never failed him. Going to another 
entrance Green and his friends locked arms and marched 
up. Green waved his hand said, "Make way, gentlemen, for 
Gov. Yates and his staff." The crowd parted and Green 
and his friends marched in. 

I recollect in 1868 I was a delegate to the republican 
convention that nominated Palmer for governor. Green 
was a delegate from Menard County- The thugs of Chi- 
cago had come down in force to ply their game. Green 
had always boasted that his pockets had never been picked. 
One day as the convention had adjourned for noon and the 
crowd was coming down the stairs of Rouse's Hall, the 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 71 

jam was fearful. Green was caught in it and relieved of all 
his money. "John they have got my pocketbook" was all 
that he said to his friend John H. Spears. Green died five 
years ago in Tallula. in Menard County, 111. I make this 
passing mention of William G. Green as he was one of the 
men who heard Abraham Lincoln recite his grammar and 
arithmetic. 



ANECDOTES OF LINCOLN 

There are many incidents in the early life of Lincoln 
which have never appeared in print. The unwritten his- 
tory, which the people of Old Salem are acquainted with 
and which will be handed down by tradition, and most 
of the incidents which we relate we know or heard old 
settlers relate. 

The early settlers of Menard 1 though it was Sangamon 
then) were comprised of two classes. The first class was 
made up of good men of excellent morals, who came to 
the county to make a home for themselves and children. 
Their first effort (after building the cabins) was to look 
after the social and religious welfare of the people. They 
were the law abiding citizens, who laid the foundation on 
which their children built. These men never took part in 
the drunken brawls and tights which the people who formed 
the second class always engaged in. The first class were 
always respected even by the rowdies. 

The second class were more in favor of * a physical 
specimen of manhood and while they at their homes were 
good neighbors, kind and accommodating, when they went 
to town or before they got in town the devil got into them 
and they were ready for a fight. I recollect one time of 
seeing about a dozen of them just ready to start home. 



72 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

They were on their horses and trying to pull each other off 
when Little John Wiseman said to Greasy George Miller — 
"George, you have torn my shirt." "Yes," said George, 
"and I can tear your hide too." That was enough. They 
all got down and hitched their horses and formed a ring 
and the crowd all stopped to see fair play. The two com- 
batants shook hands and then stepped back eight or ten feet 
and at the word "go" rushed at each other. These fights 
only differed from the prize fights that are being fought 
weekly in our cities in one respect. A prize fight is fought 
according to rules, while the Old Salem battles had no rules. 
They were strike, gouge, bite, kick, anyway to win. 



But to come back to the early settlement of Salem. 
South of Salem there was a settlement called Wolf and it 
goes by that name yet because its people were a little wolfish 
in their make-up. West of Salem were Clary's Grove and 
Little Grove, the Green, Armstrong and Watkins neighbor- 
hoods. North of Salem before Petersburg had come into 
prominence were Concord, Sand Ridge and east of the 
Sangamon were New Market, Sugar Grove, Indian Point 
and Athens. All of these communities met at Salem every 
Saturday to trade and to hear what was going on in the 
different localities. It was about this time that Lincoln 
was pursuing the occupation of surveyor in Salem though 
he clerked in a grocery store a short time before. He was 
a quiet soul. His first employment was on the brow of 
the hill where the three trees grow out of the cellar. Gov. 
Palmer said at the Old Salem Chautauqua that Lincoln 
planted these trees. This is a mistake. Thousands who 
know better believe that the trees cannot be over twenty- 
five years old. The building had been torn away for forty 
years. In a short time the boys began to size up "Uncle 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 75 

Abe" and concluded to try his metal so they consulted and 
made him an alternative. First he was to run a foot race 
was a man from Wolf. "Trot him out." said Abe. Second 
he was to wrestle with a man from Little Grove. "All 
right," said Abe. Third, he must fight a man from Sand 
Ridge. "Nothing wrong about that." said Abe. 

An expert foot racer from Wolf was distanced in the 
race. After a few minutes rest a Little Grove man stripped 
for the wrestle. "What holds do you prefer?" "Suit your- 
self," said Abe. "Catch-as-catch-can," said the man from 
the Grove. They stood about twenty feet apart and went 
at each other like two ram-. Abe's opponent was a short, 
heavy set fellow and came with his head down expecting to 
butt Abe and upset him. but Abe was not built that way. 
He stepped aside and caught the fellow by the nap of the 
neck, threw him heels over head and gave him a fall hard 
enough to break every bone in his body. This woke the 
boys up and they retired again to consult. Abe was now 
getting mad. "Bring in your man from Sand Ridge," said 
he. "1 can do him tip in three shakes of a sheep's tail, and I 
can whip the whole pack of you if you give me ten minute- 
between tights." The committee now came forward and 
gave him the right hand of fellowship and said. "You have 
sand in your craw and we will take you into our crowd as 
you are worthy to associate with us." From that time on 
Abe was king among them. lli> word was law. lie was 
their judge in horse and foot races and all of them would 
have fought for him if Abe had shown the "white feather." 



Lincoln never drank liquor of any kind and never 
chewed or smoked. We never heard him swear, though 
fudge Weldon said at the Salem Chautauqua that once in 
his life when excited he said, "By Jing." 



74 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

Amusements in those early days were confined to play- 
ing marbles and in pitching quoits. The quoits were flat 
rocks in which the country abounded. Marbles were Abe's 
best hold. Many times did I gather up the marbles as he 
scattered them in all directions. 

Bowling Green, a justice of the peace, lived a half mile 
north of Salem. He took a liking to Lincoln. He lent him 
his law books and encouraged him to read law. My father 
kept the log tavern from 1832 to 1835 and he with Bowling 
Green probably had as much to do with the shaping of the 
destiny of Lincoln as any other men in Salem. 

Bowling Green was a large, fleshy man and weighed 
300 pounds, in 1843. He went to spend a Sunday evening 
with a neighbor, named Bennett Able, and while there had 
a stroke of apoplexy and fell dead. It was in the winter 
time. He was buried on the hill-side just north of his home. 
In the spring the Masons came down from Springfield one 
Sunday, uncovered the grave and had their ceremonies. 
Lincoln was the orator of the occasion. He referred to- 
Green as the friend of his early youth and told how much 
he owed to the men over whose grave they stood. 



Lincoln moved to Springfield in 1837 and was soon at 
the head of the bar. All lawyers in those days were intel- 
lectual giants. We asked Robert Lincoln a few years ago 
if the lawyers of Chicago compared with those in his father's 
time. He said : "No. All the good lawyers are now re- 
tained by railroads and corporations and do not practice 
in lower courts." Lincoln practiced in Menard County 
until he was elected president. It was like a reunion when 
he came. His friends would surround him and he would 
call them by their given names. It was John, Bill, Joe and 
so on. His power before a Menard County jury was ir- 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 75 

resistable. though he had to contend with Baker, Logan, 
Stewart, Edwards, McConnell, Douglass and Hardin. His 
style of oratory was grand beyond description. He would 
first lay the inundation and then build the structure and 
leave no part unguarded. Then he would carry everything 
before him. He was no bulldozer and never took advantage 
of his opponent. He seemed unconscious of his power. It 
appeared as if a mighty pent-up body of matter was let 
loose, and as if some terrible cyclone was tearing through 
the forest. Everything gave way to his splendid eloquence. 
It was in these early days that lie fitted himself, like Moses 
and David, for the grand work he was to perform in after 
years. 



LINCOLN'S EARLY LIFE 

In the following letter- which may follow. 1 am indebted 
for many of the facts to Harvey L. Ross, who with his 
father. Ossian Ross, settled in Havana in iSjS. and built 
the Havana Hotel, which was the largest house within fifty 
miles of Havana. The house stood for twenty years and 
was burned in [848. Ross kept the ferry, which was the 
only place where the river could be crossed between Beards- 
town and Pekin. 

There was a great deal of travel and crossing at that 
point. Ross run the ferry, kept the hotel, carried on a 
farm, kept store, was postmaster and carried the mail be- 
tween Lewistown and Havana. He had four sons, Lewis. 
Harvey, Leonard and Pike. Harvey carried the mail, 
though only a boy of fifteen years of age. The offices 
between Lewistown and Springfield were Havana, Xew 
Salem. Athens and Sangamontown. At Xew Salem Har- 
vey Ross and Lincoln first met. Lincoln was a year the 



j6 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

oldest, and now we will let Harvey Ross tell his own story : 
"The first time I ever met, saw or heard of Abraham 
Lincoln was in 1832. I had stopped over night at Jack- 
Armstrong's, who lived on a farm five miles northwest of 
Salem, Petersburg had not then been laid out. I then saw 
a young man whom I had never met before. I asked him 
who he was, and he said his name was Abe Lincoln. He 
was tall and slender, and was dressed in common home spun 
jeans that the majority of young men wore — about the same 
as I wore myself. The next time I saw Lincoln to become 
acquainted with him was at the log tavern at New Salem, 
kept by James Rutledge. I was carrying the mail from 
Lewistown and Springfield, and put up at the tavern where 
Lincoln was boarding. He was at that time a clerk in the 
store of Samuel Hill, a merchant of Salem. Mr. Lincoln 
had been to New Orleans with a flat boat load of produce, 
and Mr. Hill had sent 100 barrels of flour that was ground 
at the Salem Water Mill. Lincoln had sold the flour at a 
good price and was so prompt in making returns that Hill 
made him a clerk in the store. Hill had the largest stock 
of goods in town and also kept the postoffice. Mr. Lincoln 
was very attentive to business ; was kind and obliging to 
the customers, and they had so much confidence in his hon- 
esty that they preferred to trade with him rather than Hill. 
This was true of the ladies who said he was honest and 
would tell the truth about the goods. I went into the store 
one dav to buy a pair of buckskin gloves, and asked him if 
he had a pair that would fit me. He threw down a pair on 
the counter : 'There is a pair of dogskin gloves that I think 
will fit you, and you can have them for 75 cents.' When he 
called them dogskin I was surprised, as I had never heard 
of such a thing before. At that time no factory gloves had 
been brought into the county. All the gloves and mittens 
then worn were made by hand, and by the women of the 
neighborhood from tanned deer skins, and the Indians did 



Reminiscences of Lincoln yj 

the tanning. A large buckskin could be bought for 50 to 75 
cents. So I said to Lincoln: 'How do you know they are 
dogskin?" 'Well.' he said, 'I'll tell you how I know they are 
dogskin. Jack Clary's dog killed Tom Watkin's sheep, 
and Tom Watkin's boy killed the dog, old John Mounts 
tanned the dogskin and Sally Spears made the gloves, and 
that is the way I know they are dogskin gloves.' So I asked 
no more, but paid six-bits, took the gloves, and can truly say 
that I have worn buckskin and dogskin gloves for 60 years 
and never found a pair that did me such service as the pair 
I got from Lincoln. 

"I understand that Lincoln received $20 a month clerk- 
ing for Hill, which was considered good wages at the time, 
though he had to pay $2 a week for his board. While Lin- 
coln was clerking for $20 a month. Hill gave him the privi- 
lege of going out to work in time of harvest, where he could 
earn from Si to $1.25 per daw and when the harvest was 
over he would come back to the -tore again. 

"In [835 I had taken my brother back to college, and 
met many of the boys who had been at home to help take 
care of the harvest, among them William (i. Green, who 
while at home, said a young man named \be Lincoln, from 
Salem, had come Oil to help them. He -aid that Lincoln 
could pitch more hay than any hand his father had. When 
Lincoln found that Green had been to college he asked if he 
had brought his books home with him. lie -aid he never 
had the advantage of an educator and would like to study 
grammar and arithmetic, and asked Green if he would assist 
him and ( ireen c< msented t< 1 d< 1 s< 1. 

Lincoln had a warm place in his heart for Green and 
-bowed him many favors after he was elected president. 
He went to see him at Washington while he was president. 
Lincoln was very glad to see him and introduced him to his 
cabinet officer- and told them that he was the young man 
who had taught him grammar and arithmetic. W. ( i. 



/8 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

Green has been dead several years, but was more intimately 
acquainted with 'Honest Old Abe' than any other living- 
person." 

After Lincoln left Hill, he took the postoffice and finding- 
that it would not support him he took a young man by the 
name of William Berry in partnership and opened a country 
store. Their stock consisted mostly of groceries, but they 
also had many notions, hats, mittens, etc. The entire stock 
could not have been worth more than $1,200. The charge 
has been made that Lincoln took out license and kept a 
saloon in the store. Judge Douglass, in his debate with Lin- 
coln, occasionally charged Lincoln that he had kept a saloon. 
Lincoln replied that he had never sold a glass of liquor 
over the counter, but if he had run a saloon and Douglass 
had lived in the vicinity he would have been his best cus- 
tomer. Mr. Ross is certain that no whisky was sold by the 
drink while Lincoln had an interest in it. It may have been 
sold by the gallon, as all stores kept it as they kept vinegar. 




CHAPTER VI. 




LINCOLN'S OLD HOME 

CORRESPONDENT of the Chicago Tribune, 
writing from Old Salem, two miles south of 
Petersburg, written in [884, gives the follow- 
ing interesting communication about Lincoln 

and his early b< >yh 1 home : 

J write- from a town without a postoffice, a tavern or 
shop. There is not a house in sight. From the hill where 
I sit under the shade of three trees whose branches make 
one, I look "in over the Sangamon river and its hanks. 
covered apparently with primeval forests. Around are fields 
overgrown with weeds and stunted oak. We may say oi it 
as of Troy: "Salem fruit." Ii was a town of ten or twelve 
years only; began in [824 and ended in [836. Yet in that 
time had a history which will not die: n« »t so long as it 
venerates the- memory of the noble liberator and martyr. 
I 'resident Abraham 1 .ino 'In. 

I came here today with a few "Id settlers as "it a 
pilgrimage to this "Mecca of the soul." \V. ( '>. Green, the 
associate clerk and life friend of Lincoln; Murry Goff. 
president of the Old Settles' Association ; J. G. Strodtmann, 
county treasurer: Judge John d'iee. an old surveyor, a per- 
sonal friend of Lincoln; and Hobert Hamilton, engineer, 
made up the party. Judge Tice and Strodtmann went ahead 
in a buggy to pilot the way. The rest of us followed in a 
carriage drawn by two mules. We drove up from Peters 



8o Reminiscences of Lincoln 

burg about two miles, passing on the way site of the old 
mill, run by Lincoln and the remains of the old dam on 
which his flat-boat lodged when floating down from Sanga- 
montown on the way to New Orleans. 

After much debate as to the mode of reaching the old 
site, we entered an old field through a gate, and, driving 
up a hill showing a wheel track through tall weeds, we rode 
over the streets of the old town. The weeds were as high 
as the horses' backs. Mr. Rice stood up in his buggy, and 
surveying the landscape, pointed out places where the weeds 
were lower. "There was Cameron's boarding house, where 
Lincoln boarded when he kept store for Denton Offit. Neat- 
it was George Warburton's store and beyond was Sam 
Hill's. Over there to the south was the Baptist church and 
the cemetery alongside." 

Mr. Green pointed out the sight of Rutledge's house. 
"There," said he. "there is where Ann Rutledge lived. Lin- 
coln was engaged to her. Her death almost broke his heart. 
He told me once that he didn't want to live. He couldn't 
bear the thought that the rain was falling on her grave and 
she was sleeping in the cold ground. We had to watch him 
to keep him from harming himself." 

"Right here was Denton Offit's store where Lincoln and 
I were clerks together." Mr. Green had not been here for 
fiirt\- years, yet recognized the spot. 

A small depression showed a former cellar. Out of it 
grew three trees about fifty feet high, with boughs inter- 
laced, making one in their outline. There was a locust 
thorn, with leaves like a fine fringe, an elm and a cotton- 
wood. 

The elm and cotton wood grew out of the stump, as if 
forming one tree. The dark leaves of the elm and bright 
broad leaves of the sycamore were intermingled, as from 
one trunk. 

"Behold." said Mr. Green, "an emblem of Union main- 
tained by Lincoln." 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 8r 

Mr. Green pointed out the spot where Lincoln had the 
Joneses, Greens and others had planned to try Lincoln's 
wrestling match with the Armstrongs. 

"The Clary Grove boys, composed of the Armstrongs, 
pluck ; they challenged him to wrestle. Jack Armstrong, 
the biggest one. took him in hand and tried to throw him. 
He tried all sorts of tricks, got foul holds and inside leg 
hitches, all in vain. Then Lincoln said that if they were 
for enemies, he was ready; or friends, as it suited them. Big 
Jack Armstrong slapped him on the back and said. 'Oh, we 
were only in fun." It was the son of those very Armstrongs 
(Duff) that Lincoln defended and saved from conviction 
of murder by producing the old almanac by which the jury 
was convinced that the moon did not shine as witnesses had 
testified. They acquitted the prisoner in five minutes. Duff 
Armstrong is still living. 

'These were the Armstrongs that wrecked Radford's 
store. 1 can tell the story in a few minutes. Radford had 
a store right over I in the weeds). It was the first put up. 
A friend told him to look out for Clary Grove hoys or they 
would smash him up. !!<.■ said he was not afraid. He was 
a great big fellow. Hut his friend said, 'they don't come 
alone. If one can't whip you two or three can; and they 
will do it." One day he left the store in charge of his 
brother with the injunctions that if the Clary Grove boys 
came not to let them have more than two drinks. All the 
stores in those days kept liquors to sell, and had a corner 
for drinking. The store was nicely fitted up and had many 
things in glass jars nicely labeled. The Clary Grove boys 
came in and took two drinks. The clerk refused them any 
more as politely as he could. Then they went behind the 
counter and helped themselves. They got roaring drunk 
and went to work to smash everything in the store. The 
fragments on the floor were an inch deep. They left and 
went off on their horses whooping and yelling. Coming 



82 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

across a herd of cattle they took the bells from their necks 
and fastened them to the tails of the leaders and chased them 
over the country, yelling like mad. Radford heard them, 
and mounting', rode in hot haste to the store. I had been 
sent that morning with a grist to Lincoln's mill. It was at 
the dam you see down there, and I had to pass the store. 1 
saw Radford ride up. His horse was in a lather of foam. 
He dismounted and looked in on the wreck through the open 
doors. He was aghast at the spectacle and said, 'I'll sell 
out this thing to the next man that comes along.' 

"I rode up and looking through the window that had 
been smashed, said, "I'll give you $400 for it." 

"Done," said he. 

I said, "But I have no money, I must have time." 

"How much ?" 

"Six months." 

"Agreed." 

He drew up a note for $400 at six months and I signed 
it. I began to think I was stuck. The boys came in, among 
them Lincoln. 

"Cheer up, Billy," said he, "it's a good thing; we will 
take an inventory." 

"No more inventories for me," said I, not knowing what 
he meant. 

He explained that he should take an account of the stock 
to see what was left. 

We found it amounted to $1,200. Lincoln and Berry 
consulted over it and offered me $750 for my bargain. I 
accepted it, stipulating that they should assume my notes. 
You see I always wanted to keep up my credit. 

Berry was a wild fellow — a gambler; had a fine horse 
and a splendid saddle and bridle. He turned over the 
horse as part pay. They gave me $250 in silver. I stowed 
this under my hunting shirt and rode off at night for home. 
I had sent my grist to mill by a boy who carried home the 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 8 



j 



story of my purchase. As I rode along I was pleased with 
my horse, and especially with the ribbon on the bridle. My 
father was in bed when I arrived. He sang out, "So, Billy, 
you are a merchant, are ye's? You git along to bed and I'll 
come and thrash the merchant out of you mighty quick." 

"I went to the kindling pile and raked over the coals that 
had been covered up and made a light. Then I said : Top, 
have sold out and I got this.' I pulled out a dollar and 
showed it to him. and then another and another, one by 
one, till I had out $250. He raised up and said. T must 
take a chaw.' He pulled out a plug from under his pillow 
and called out to mother: 'Liz. get up and get this young 
fellow a first-rate supper, he has had a hard day's work.' 

"Lincoln let Berry run the store and it soon ran out. I 
had to pay the note. Lincoln said he would pay it some 
day. We used to talk about it as the National debt. Finally 
he paid it with interest." 

Mr. GofT remarked: "The Clary Grove boys were al- 
ways up to some mischief. They trimmed the manes and 
tails of horses, cut bridles SO that hut a little remained to 
break at the first pull; cut girths, put stones under saddles 
SO as to cause riders to he thrown mounting. Kiglu 
here in front of ( )ffit's Store they rolled James Jordan down 
that hill. You sec it goes down at an angle of 45 degrees. 
Then it reached down to the river 200 feet, and there was 
no mad there as there is now. He used to come here for 
whisky [5 miles, and he would get his fill. When drunk 
the Armstrongs headed him up in a hogshead. He was a 
large, fat fellow, and nearly filled it. Then the}- sent it 
rolling down the hill. It went with increasing velocity. 
threatening to go into the river, when it was caught under 
a leaning white oak. and their victim liberated. Lincoln 
was here, surrounded by tough fellows of this stamp, but 
even then he had his eye on the future. He was studying 
to be a lawyer. All had confidence in his judgment and 



84 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 



honesty. He didn't drink like the others, yet he was not a 
total abstainer. 

"I won my first hat on a bet that he could take a drink 
of whisky from the bung of a 40-gallon barrel. You see a 
man named Estep had a trick. He twisted his fingers irt 
a knot, and then bet you couldn't mark his little finger. I 
had lost several bets on it, when Lincoln said he would help 
me get even with him. He showed me how he could lift 




"THE THREE GRACES'- 
Growing in the Cellar of Lincoln's Store at Salem, III. 

a barrel of whisky on his knees and put his mouth to the 
bung hole. He told me to take a keg and hold it up as if 
drinking and bet a fur hat that Lincoln could take up a 
barrel of whisky and drink from the bung hole. Estep' 
took the bet and lost. 

"Lincoln came to Salem on a flat-boat. Offit had built 
a flat-boat at the head of the river, loaded it with bacon, 
corn, hogs and goods of all sorts, and set out to go to New 



Remixiscexces of Lixcolx 85 

Orleans. Lincoln was put in charge. He started down in 
the spring flood. Arriving at the dam opposite Salem the 
scow struck. It was unloaded and a store set up on the 
bank. 

"At one time there were three stores here, and a church 
serving as a school house. Xow all is desolate. Peters- 
burg, started by George Warburton and Peter Lukins — 
took the wind out of its sails. It was abandoned for a 
short time. "The roof-tree moulded on the crumbling wall. 
Then all disappeared, and only a few hole- arc left to show 
where the houses and stores once were." 

A move is on foot to revive the memory of Old Salem 
and have a park laid out embracing the old site. It would 
be an attraction to tourists, and of those who wish to see 
front what humble beginning- and under what circum- 
stances greatness could spring. 



HOW LINCOLN CURED CHARLES REVIS FROM 
SWEARING 

Mr. Lincoln, though not a church member, and never 
made a profession of religion, was always disgusted ami 
shocked when he heard men making use of profane lan- 
guage, and a circumstance will illustrate. It took place 
when Lincoln was keeping postoffice and -tore in New 
Salem. A young man by the name of Charles Revis, about 
twenty years of age, lived with his father. John Revis, on 
the bluff of the Sangamon River a few miles north of 
Salem. Charlie, a- he was familiarly called, was in the 
habit of coming to Salem about every other day and would 
make the postoffice his headquarters. Here he would sit 
and -pin out his yarns to the men who would gather around 
him. As he had at one time been a hand on a keel-boat h< 
had contracted the habit of using profane language. He 



86 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

could swear by note. In fact, almost every other word was 
an oath. He was so in the habit of swearing that he scarcely 
knew when he did swear. 

One day he came into the store while a couple of ladies 
were in the store doing some trading, and getting their mail. 
Charlie was sitting on a dry goods box telling his stories to 
his companions and almost every word would utter one of 
his big oaths. 

Lincoln noticed that the ladies were very much shocked 
at his profanity, and after they had left Lincoln walked 
up to Revis and said to him : "Now Charlie Revis, I have 
admonished you a number of times about swearing in this 
store before ladies and you have paid no attention to it 
and now I am going to punish you so you will recollect it." 
So he took him by the arm and led him out a short distance 
from the store to a vacant lot where there was a large patch 
of smart weed. 

He threw him on his back and put his foot on his breast 
and commenced to gather smart weed. He then com- 
menced and rubbed his face, eyes and mouth with it till 
Revis began to yell and he promised Mr. Lincoln if he 
would let him up he would never swear in the presence of 
ladies again. Lincoln told him to promise that he would 
never swear before anybody again and Charlie promised. 
Mr. Lincoln let him up and a complete reformation was 
made in the language of Charlie Revis, and from that day 
his most intimate friends said that they never heard an oath 
escape his lips. Y\ 'hen they asked him why he had stopped 
so suddenly from using profane language he said that he 
had promised Mr. Lincoln that he would stop swearing 
and that he was going to keep his word. In a short time 
Peter Cartright held a camp meeting in that community 
and Charles Revis and a number of his companions were 
converted and formed a church. Charlie got married and 
settled down and was one of the best citizens in all that 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 87 

community, and it may be that the severe means that Lin- 
coln employed bore the right point in reforming Charles 
Revis and a right application of smart weed well rubbed 
in would help a great many in this day who use great red 
hot oaths in there conversation. 



LINCOLN AS POSTMASTER AT SALEM 

Samuel Hill was the first postmaster at Salem, Sanga- 
mon County. 111. He was a merchant and kept the largest 
Stock of goods iii town. Whisky was among the goods and 
wares that were for sale in his store. Mr. Hill was a 
democrat and had received the appointment of postmaster 
under the administration of Andrew Jackson. The post- 
office was in the same building and the same room where 
the goods were kepi. The whisky was in the same room 
also. It was the custom in those times for most all of the 
merchants to sell whisky as they did sugar, coffee and tea. 
It was also the custom of the women in the town as well 
a- in the country to go to the postoffice to get the mail 
for the family and there were often complaints made by 
them that they were compelled to wait an unreasonable 
length of time to get their mail. They Stated that if a cus- 
tomer came into the store to gel a gallon of whisky they 
would have to wait until the whisky was drawn before 
they were given their mail, and that, there was strong com- 
petition among the merchants for the whisky business, but 
m me in the p< >st< >ffice business. Si 1 the pe< >ple had t< > wait for 
their mail and they became disappointed with the way that 
Mill was running the postoffice and they got up a petition 
to have him put out and Mr. Lincoln appointed in his place. 
The petition was signed by the majority of the patrons of 
the office. At that time politics cut but little figure in the 
appointment^ of postmasters in small towns. The petition 



88 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

had to have the endorsement and recommendation of some 
postmaster who was known and well known at the depart- 
ment at Washington. The petition in question was sent by 
O. M. Ross, who was then postmaster at Havana. He was 
one of the oldest and best known postmasters in that part of 
the country, having- been the first postmaster in Lewistown, 
which office he held until he moved to Havana. Upon ex- 
amination he found that the petition was signed by some of 
the best known men in Salem. Ross himself knew Lincoln, 
so he sent the petition to Washington with the recommenda- 
tion that Air. Lincoln be appointed postmaster at Salem. 
About five weeks after the petition was sent to Washington 
Mr. Lincoln received his appointment. At that time there 
were no railroads and it took a long time to get a letter to 
Washington and the have an answer sent. 

The duties at a postoffice in those early pioneer days 
were quite different from what they are at the present time 
and the work was much more laborious. For instance, a 
book had to be kept in which all letters sent from the office 
had to be registered, giving the name of the postoffice from 
which they were received, the postoffice to which they were 
sent, the date and the amount of postage due on each letter 
and then a way bill was made out to correspond with the 
register and sent with the letter. In those times we had no 
envelopes. A letter had to be wrapped in a piece of wrap- 
ping paper and tied with a piece of twine. Then a copy of 
those registered letters had to be drawn off every three 
months and sent to the department at Washington. This 
was called the postmaster's quarterly returns. It was a 
great deal of work. At that time there were no gold or 
steel pens and all the writing had to be done with a quill 
plucked from the wing of a turkey or goose. The postage 
on a letter at that time in the United States was 634, 12^, 
1 8 24 or 25 cents, according to the distance they were sent. 
All letters sent across the ocean were from 373/2 to 50 cents. 



Reminiscences of Lixcolx 89 

No postage was paid on the letters when they left the office 
but was all collected when the letter was delivered. 

After Mr. Lincoln had kept the postoffice about two 
years in Salem the county of Sangamon was divided and the 
county of Menard formed. The county seat was located at 
Petersburg, which was two miles north <>\ Salem, and soon 
after that was done the postoffice was removed to Peters- 
burg. As Mr. Lincoln wanted the house and lot where he 
kept the postoffice he did not feel disposed to pull up stakes 
and go to Petersburg, so lie resigned, lie remained at 
Salem, keeping the house, which he had used for the post- 
office, for a law office and lodging place. 

At the time that Lincoln kept the postoffice in Salem. < > 
M. Ross had the contract of carrying the mail from Lewis- 
town to Springfield twice a week. The postoffices between 
the two places were Havana, Salem. Athens and Sangamon. 
The way he received his pay for the service was to receive .1 
draft from the department at Washington, on the different 
offices on the route, and as Harvey was the mail can 
these drafts were given to him to collect, lie would have to 
call on some of the postmasters, a- many a- three and four 
times before they could pay, hut it was not >,> with Mr. Lin- 
coln, lie always had the money ready to pay as soon as 
drafts were presented, lie kept the postoffice money in a 
blue Stocking laid away in a chest under the counter. When 
the drafts were presented he would unlock the chest, take out 
the blue stocking, pour out the money on the counter and 
commence to count it. It was all <> ,25 and 50 cent 

piece-, just the same money that he had taken in. 

When Mr. Lincoln resigned the office of postmaster .it 
Salem, he hail in his possession some fifty dollars, which 
was due the postoffice department. This money he kept 
ready to hand over whenever called upon by the proper 
agent. In those times it was the custom for the department 
at Washington to -end out an agent every year to look after 



90 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

the western offices and to settle up with the postmasters and 
carriers. Some several months after Lincoln had sent in his 
resignation, the agent called upon him for a settlement. 
When he called Mr. Lincoln was in his law office. When 
the agent presented the account Mr. Lincoln looked at it and 
presumed that it was all right, and went behind the counter 
and opened the chest and took the blue stocking from it. He 
poured the money on the counter and commenced to count it. 
It consisted of 6 T 4, 12^, 25 and 50-cent pieces, just the 
same money that he had received for postage. When the 
money was counted it agreed to a cent with the account that 
the agent presented. After they had settled and the money 
was paid over the agent remarked to Mr. Lincoln. "Now, 
Mr. Lincoln, you might as well have used that money as to 
have it wrapped up in that stocking and laid away in your 
chest where it could do no good." Air. Lincoln straightened 
himself up and, looking the agent square in the face, said: 
"No, sir, I never make use of money that does not belong to 
me." Now that saying of Air. Lincoln's "I never make use 
of money that does not belong to me," comes forcibly to my 
mind. How many men all over our land are today serving" 
out terms in state prisons just because they did not adopt 
Mr. Lincoln's saying, "I never make use of money that doe<» 
not belong to me." 



BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE OF LINCOLN 

On the twelfth of February, 1809, there was born in the 
wilderness of Lame county. Kentucky, one of the best and 
greatest men that ever lived — Abraham Lincoln. His father 
was a poor farmer, and in the wild life of the nackwoods, 
his entire schooling did not exceed a year, but while at school 
he was noted as a good speller, but more for his hatred of 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 91 

cruelty. His earliest composition was a protest against 
putting c<>als of fire on the hack of a captured terrapin. He 
wore coarse, home-made clothes and a coon skin cap. His 
trousers, owing to his rapid growth (before his seventeenth 
birthday he was six feet, four inches tall ) were always nearly 
a foot ton short. His last attendance at school was in 1826 
when he was seventeen years old. After leaving school he 
read everything within his reach and copied passages and 
sentences, which attracted his attention. 1 lis first knowledge 
of law. in which he afterwards became eminent, was through 
tatutes of Indiana lent to him by a constable, lie also 
obtained considerable knowledge of grammar from a bor- 
rowed hook, which he studied by the light of shavings in a 
COOper -hop. After his family had emigrated in [830 to 
Illinois, in [834 he was elected to the Illinois legislature, 
lie was three times re-elected, was admitted to the practice 
of law in [836 and then moved to Springfield the state 
capitol. In [846 he was elected to Congress, beating Peter 
Cartright, the backwoods preacher. In [854 he was the 
recognized leader of the Repubfican party. In [860 he was 
a candidate for the presidency, receiving a majority of votes 
over any other candidate, and was installed in the presi- 
dential chair March 4. [861. His election to the presidency 
was followed by the secession of eleven states and a war 
for the restoration of the union as a military measure, lie 
proclaimed January 1. [864, the freedom of all slaves in the 
seceding states and was reelected to the presidency in [864. 
The war was brought to a close April 2, [865, and on the 
fifteenth of the same month. Abraham Lincoln's life was 
ended by the hand of an assassin. Thus when he 

"I lad m< fiinted fame's ladder so high 
From the round at the top he could touch the sky" 

the great President passed to his rest, and in the moment of 
his triumph was laid by the side of Washington — the one, 
the father, and the other, the savior of hi- country. 



CHAPTER VII. 



LINCOLN'S RELIGIOUS BELIEF 




UBLIC men are not as a general thing, noted for 
their pretty talk. The average politician and 
his life, doings and conversation, are not much 
in accordance with the Christian religion. He 
puts Christ and salvation in the hack ground, and yet in the 
last hours he generally leaves some testimony as to what he 
thought of the future. So the last words of noted men are 
treasured. Stephen A. Douglas' last words were supposed 
to be addressed to his sons, directing them to understand the 
constitution and the laws, and to obey them. Daniel Web- 
ster when about to expire said, "I still live." These words 
are supposed to be prophetic and sound beautiful. An old 
colored preacher used the same meaning when he said : 
"My breden, what did Daniel Webster say when his friends 
were standin' 'roun' and thought that he was gone? He jus 
rized up and said. '1 ain't dead yet/ ' This sounded ridicu- 
lous, but expressed the same meaning as the words spoken by 
Webster himself. 

While Lincoln did not discuss theology, nor even make 
a public profession of religion, he was always a very moral 
and exemplary man. One day a minister remarked to him 
that lie believed he was a Christian man and asked him why 
he did not join some church. Air. Lincoln replied, that if 
he could find some church whose creed and requirements 
could be simmered down to the condensed statement, "Thou 
shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 93 

soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself," 
he would join that church was his heart and soul. 

In 185 1 Mr. Lincoln learned that his father was not ex- 
pected to live, and as he had sickness in his own family and 
could not go he wrote to his half brother. "I sincerely hope 
that father will recover, but, at all events, tell him to remem- 
ber to call upon and confide in our great, good and merciful 
maker, who will not turn away from him. He notices the 
fall of the sparrows and numbers of hairs of our head, and 
He will not forget the dying man who places his trust in 
Him. Say to him. that if we could meet now. it is doubtful 
whether it would be more painful or pleasant, but if it be his 
lot to go he will have a joyful meeting with the loved ones 
gone before and the rest of us will hope, through the help of 
God, to join them e'er long." It will be remembered that 
when he was going from Springfield to Washington, to be 
inaugurated, he addressed a crowd from the ears as he was 
leaving his old home and he spoke as follows: '*A duty de- 
volves on me, which is perhaps, greater than lias devolved 
on any other man since the days of Washington. He would 
never have succeeded except for the aid of 1 >ivine Pro\ idence 
upon which he at all times relied. I feel that I cannot suc- 
ceed without the same divine aid. and in the same Almighty 
Being 1 place my reliance for support and 1 hope that you, 
my friend-, will all pray that 1 may receive that divine aid 
without which 1 cannot succeed, but with which success is 
certain." At another time, when our armies were meeting 
with reverse- and the destiny of the nation seemed hanging 
m a balance, President Lincoln appointed a day for prayer 
for the Mirer- of our armies in the following words: 

"Whereas, When our beloved country «.nee by the blessings 
of God united, prosperous and happy, is now afflicted with 
faction- and civil war-, it is tit for us to recognize the hand 
of God in this terrible visitation and in sorrowful remem- 



94 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

brance of our own faults and crimes as a nation and as in- 
dividuals, to humble ourselves before Him and to pray for 
His mercy — to pray that we may be spared further punish- 
ment ( though most justly deserved), that our armies may be 
helped and be made effectual for the re-establishment of law 
and order and peace throughout the country, and that the in- 
estimable boon of civil and religious liberty, earned under 
His guidance and blessing, by the labor and suffering of our 
fathers, may be restored in all its original excellence. 

"Therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, president of the United 
States, do appoint the last Thursday in September next, as 
a day of humiliation, prayer and fasting, for all the people 
of the nation, and I do earnestlv recommend to all the people 
and especiallv to all ministers and teachers of religion, of all 
denominations, and to all the heads of families, to keep that 
day according to their several creeds and modes of worship, 
in all humility and with all religious solemnity to the end 
that the united pravers of the nation may ascend to the 
throne of grace and bring down plentiful blessings upon our 

country. 

Abraham Lincoln, 

"President of the United States." 

The above proclamation shows his dependence upon a 
higher power. No president ever showed such faith in Al- 
mighty God during such a momentous crisis as the one he 
was called to pass through. A calm trust in God was the 
loftiest characteristic in the life of Abraham Lincoln. Hg 
had learned this long ago. "I would rather my son would be 
able to read the bible than to own a farm if he can have but 
one," said his mother. The bible was Abraham Lincoln's 
guide. 

A lady who was interested in religious work had oc- 
casion to have several interviews of a business nature with 
Lincoln. He was very much impressed with the earnestness 
of purpose which she manifested and on one occasion aftei 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 95 

she had accomplished the object of her visit he said to her: 
"I have formed a very high 1. pinion of your Christian char- 
acter and now as we are alone I have a mind to ask you to 
give me in brief your idea of what constitutes a born religi- 
ons experience." The lady replied at some length that in 
her judgment it consisted of a conviction 1 »f one's own sinful- 
ness and weakness and personal need of the Savior for 
strength and support. She said that views of mere doctrine 
might and would differ, but when one was really brought to 
feel the need of divine help and to seek the aid of the Holy 
Spirit for strength and guidance it was satisfactory evidence 
fy that he had been born again.*' This was the substance of her 
reply. When she had concluded Mr. Lincoln was thought- 
fuf for a few minutes and then said very earnestly: "If 
what von have told me is a correct view of this great subjeel 
1 can say with sincerity that I hope 1 am a Christian. 1 had 
lived until my boy Willie died without fully realizing these 
things. That blow overwhelmed me and showed me my 
weakness as 1 had never felt it before, and if 1 can take what 
von have told me as a test. 1 think 1 can safely say thai 1 
know something of that change you speak of. 1 will further 
add that it has been my intention for some time at a suitable 
opportunity, to make a public religious profession." 'Ibis 
shows his deep religious conviction. 

Take Abraham Lincoln and judge him by what standard 
von will and he stands head and shoulders above his fellow-. 
lie was born for a great mission and well did he till it. lie 
fought the good light and kept the faith. 



ABE LINCOLN AND SLICKEY BILL GREEN 

In the perilous time- of the ci\d war Slickey Green went 
to Washington to see and consult with President Lincoln. 
The president recognized Slickey as soon as he entered the 
White 1 louse. 



96 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

"How are yon. Bill?" said he. 

"How are you, Abe?" said Bill. 

Secretary Stanton was by and Lincoln introduced Green. 
Stanton gave him a cool reception, without rising from his 
seat, whereupon Lincoln gave Stanton a rebuke by saying . 
"Mr. Green is the man who made me, and I am the man who 
made you, Mr. Stanton." 

Then Abe and Slickey sat down for a long talk, in which 
Lincoln recited the perilous condition of the country. Lin- 
coln asked about all the principal men in Menard county, and 
if they were standing by him. Bill told him they were. 
Abe then asked how Henry Clark stood. Bill told him that 
he was sorry to inform him that Clark was not for him. 
After a few moments reflection Lincoln said : 

"When you go home you see Clark and tell him that I 
once stood by him in an early encounter, and now I want him 
to stand by me in this terrible time." 

When Green came home he saw Clark, and told him what 
Lincoln had said, and afterwards Abe had no surer friend 
in Menard county than Henry Clark. 



Lincoln's great hold upon the common people arose from 
the fact that he was the representative of them. He had a 
supreme contempt for snobbery and never failed to rebuke it 
when he had the opportunity. 

At one time a couple of English dudes visited the White 
House. They found the president with hair unkempt and 
clothes unbrushed. After a few remarks the president put 
his foot upon a chair and taking a blacking brush went to 
work on his shoes. The Englishmen were amazed, and one 
of them said, "Why Mr. Lincoln, in London no gentleman 
blacks his own shoes." 

"No?" said old Abe, pausing to spit on the brush, 
"Whose shoes does he black?" 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 97 

A few days ago I was on Salem hill and I stopped in 
front of the spot where the old hotel stood. Memory carried 
me back three score years when I saw Abe Lincoln playing 
marbles and pitching quoits on the very spot where I stood, 
and where his musical voice and ringing laugh could be 
heard above all his comrades. It is a wonder the ground 
at old Salem is not marked so that the visitor to that sacred 
spot can be better informed as to the locality of the buildings 
and other historic scenes of the town. 1 made arrangement-. 
with James Bale a few week- ago in which he was to have 
old Salem mowed and furnished suitable posts and boards, 
and 1 agreed to locate where each building stood, with the 
owner's name and the business that he followed. 

I understand that I am the only person now living that 
can do it. Salem is destined to become the Mt. Vernon of 
the west. Every allusion made by speakers al Old Salem 
Chautauqua that touched upon the history of this spot found 
a hearty response. While at old Salem Chautauqua a few 
weeks ago I met Lncle John Roll, who is nearly a hundred 
years old. He was an old comrade of Lincoln's at a nearly 
day. He is still in good health and bids fair to become a 
centenarian, lie assisted Lincoln to build the last tlat boat 
that went down the Sangamon at Sangamontown, and he 
delights to talk of his early career. They must have been 
intimate friends for Lincoln gave him his dog when he 
started for Washington to be inaugurated. 

Mr. Roll had a picture of the dog. which he took great 
delight in showing. lie also had a gold watch which 
Stephen A. Douglas used to carry. It was in a heavy gold 
case with S. A. Douglas carved on the back. He could 
probably get a large sum of money if he was willing to sell 
it. It was a great treat to meet a comrade of Lincoln's, who 
had lived with him, shared his toils and helped him achieve, 
his triumphs. 



98 Reminiscences of Lincoln 

TRIAL OF DUFF ARMSTRONG 

Hannah Armstrong was one of the earliest settlers of 
Menard county. Her maiden name was Jones. She grew 
up as most other maidens did in that early day, without the 
advantages of culture and refinement that mark the civiliza- 
tion of the present time. She was healthy and strong, of 
commanding appearance, had a strong mind and was en- 
dowed with good sense. It may be that she was masculine 
in some of her ways. 

She married Jack Armstrong, and with no capital other 
than strong hearts and willing hands they commenced the 
battle of life. They never grew rich, but they were happy 
and contented. • 

In the "thirties" Abraham Lincoln came to Salem. An 
acquaintance soon sprang up between him and the Arm- 
strong family. He made his home with them for weeks at 
a time and Aunt Hannah treated him as one of her children. 
Lincoln never forgot her kindnesses, and years afterward, 
when he had become a lawyer of prominence, he was able 
to repay her kindness by defending and clearing her son, 
Duff Armstrong, of the charge of murdering James Medscar 
at a camp-meeting in Mason county. The trial became fam- 
ous and the name of Hannah Armstrong is today known all 
over the world on account of her relationship to the de- 
fendant. 

Historians and biographers have published to the world 
that Lincoln used a "doctored" almanac and by that means 
deceived the jury. I had heard it so often that I believed it, 
and I confess that it lowered Lincoln in my estimation. On 
writing to Judge William Walker, now of Missouri, but 
who was then practicing law at Havana, 111., and was chiet 
counsel for Armstrong, assisted by Caleb Dilworth, I 
learned the facts. The trial was to come off at Beardstown. 
Lincoln had written to Aunt Hannah that he would clear 



Reminiscences of Lincoln 99 

her son. He appeared in Beardstown about the time the 
trial began and asked Walker's permission to help in the 
case. Walker examined the witnesses. They all testified 
the murder was committeed at 10 p. m. and that the moon 
was shining as bright as day. Lincoln was taking notes 
and would get each witness to repeat the statement : "as light 
as day and at 10 p. m." 

Lincoln was to make the closing speech. After the 
other lawyers had finished Lincoln got up and said that the 
prosecution seemed to have a clear case. Then rising in his 
grandeur he said : "These witnesses have all perjured them- 
selves and I can prove it!" Then he produced the almanac 
and showed that at ten o'clock on the night of the murder 
the moon had not yet risen. That the tragedy occurred in 
a deep ravine. That on the east bank of the ravine was a 
heavy body of timber, and that it must have been two hours 
after the moon came up before it threw any light into the 
ravine. He thus showed that the witnesses were mistaken 
and so cleared his client. The newspapers at that time were 
not justified in charging Lincoln with having substituted an 
old almanac for one of that year. 

Aunt Hannah and Lincoln met for the last time at 
Havana in [858, when Lincoln and Douglas were touring 
the state making political speeches. Douglas had just fin- 
ished his speech when a steamboat came up the Illinois river 
with Lincoln on hoard. Aunt Hannah had come to town 
early and had waited all day to see Lincoln. She wore a 
calico dress, red shawl ami a sunbonnet, and was wondering 
if he would know her or speak to her since he had become a 
great man. The boat landed, the plank was run out and 
Lincoln came ashore. lie saw the figure in the red shawl 
and said: "How do yon do. Aunt Hannah? How are all 
the folks?" Annt Hannah was overjoyed to Know that he 
had not forgotten her. 

Jack Armstrong died some time in the "fifties," leaving 

L.cfC. 



ioo Reminiscences of Lincoln 

Aunt Hannah a widow. She afterwards married Samuel 
Wilcox, and while there were two sets of children, all were 
well cared for. She had a hard time in her declining years 
to make a living off her little forty acres of land, but she was 
content to live in obscurity though her name had become al- 
most a household word throughout the country. She died 
at Winterset, Iowa, about ten years ago and her remains 
were brought back to Petersburg for burial. 

Women of Hannah Armstrong's make-up are found in 
every new country. Many of the early women of Menard 
county possessed the characteristics that made her conspicu- 
ous among her companions. 



"DUFF ARMSTRONG'S STATEMENT" 

It was our intention to interview Duff Armstrong while 
he lived at Easton in reference to the above case, but before 
we could do so he moved to Pleasant Plains. We noticed 
afterwards, in the Globe Democrat, an account of his side of 
the case, in which he said that a number of the boys were at 
campmeeting and nearly all were intoxicated. There had 
been considerable fighting during the day, and he, being 
tired, lay down on a dry goods box and went to sleep. 
While sleeping, some person pulled him off the box, he ex- 
postulated with the person and laid down again. When the 
same party pulled him from the box the second time he arose 
up and a general fight commenced. The next morning he 
heard that Medscar was killed in the fray and that he was 
accused of the murder. Thats all he knew about the affair. 
This statement is so different from what the witnesses swore 
to in the court, that we give it for what it is worth. 



Peter Cartright 

The Backwoods Preacher 




PETER OARTRIGHT 

THE BACKWOODS PREACHER 



Cbe Backwoods Preacher 



CHAPTER VIII. 




BIRTH OF CARTRIGHT 

'J' WAS niv S"<)(1 fortune to be well acquainted 
with Peter Cartright, and this acquaintance 
dates as far Lack as I can recollect. He lived 
all his life about >ix miles southwest of Salem 
and used to often come to Salem to trade, as it was a -real 
deal nearer to him than Springfield. He lived on the same 
farm and was well fixed, though in early days; his salary for 
preaching would now be considered very small for the work 
done. He was a man of great force of character and 
whether as preacher or politician, generally carried his point; 
of medium height, but of gigantic build, with a forehead 
covered with a shaggy cat of hair, a broad chest, and small 
eyes deeply set, heavy eyebrows, lie had great conversa- 
tional powers, oupled with keen wit. Me could interest a 
crowd as well a^ any man 1 ever knew. 

He was born September i. 17S6, in Amherst county, 
Virginia. His father was a soldier in the Revolutionary 
war. and moved from Virginia to Kentucky in an early day. 
Thousands of hostile Indian- and thousands of emigrants 
were ruthlessly murdered while on their way to Kentucky. 
Main- young men joined the emigrants hoping to better their 
condition in the "Dark and I'.l ly State.*' There were 



104 The Backwoods Preacher 

about two hundred families banded together for mutual pro- 
tection, another hundred young men, well armed, who agreed 
to guard the families through, and as compensation were to 
be supported for their services. On the route they traveled 
they often saw where white people had been murdered and 
scalped by the Indians. 

His conversion was as marvelous as St. Paul's, and we 
believe he had a great mission to fill in the world. We find 
young Cartright served the devil with all his might; when 
his face turned right about he commenced to serve the 
Lord as zealous as he did the devil. His mission was to 
spread scripture holiness in the form of Methodism, which 
is Christianity in earnest. The old style Methodist preach- 
ers rode large circuits, swam rivers, preached every day in 
the week, rode horse back and carried saddle bags with books 
for sale. They preached as if the devil had no rights that 
they were bound to respect, never apologized for their at- 
tacks on Satan's kingdom. They sang old Methodist songs 
like this : 

A Methodist is my name 
And I hope to live and die the same. 
or, 

Oh, whip the devil around the stump 
And hit him a crack at every jump. 

This was the sentiment if not just the words. 

He was a wonderful man, just suited for his day and 
generation, there never was but one Peter Cartright, there 
will never be another; the world needed a Cartright and 
there was not room for two. 

In the early days of Methodism the preachers had to 
contend with the ignorance of the people. A few incidents 
will be to the point. Wilson Lee was one of the pioneer 
preachers. At one of his appointments at a private house 
they had a pet lamb — the boys had taught it to butt. They 
would make motions with their heads and the lamb would 



The Backwoods Preacher 105 

back and come at them with all its might, and they would 
jump out of the way so the lamb would miss them. A man 
came to the meeting who had been drinking and frolicing 
the night before. He came in late and took his seat near 
the door and began to nod. Presently the lamb came along 
and seeing the man nodding and bending back and forth. 
took it as a banter, -prang forward and gave the sleeper a 
severe jolt "ii the head and tilted him over to the amusement 
of the congregation, who burst into laughter, and grave as 
was Bro. Lee. he almost lost his balance and laughed with 
the rest. I le went on, however, with his sermon and urged 
them to take up their en ^ 

There was in the congregation a very wicked Dutchman 
and his wife, who were very ignorant. The woman was a 
common scold and made her husband very unhappy and his 
life miserable. After the meeting was over Bro. Lee started 
on hi- journey and -aw a little ahead of him a man trudging 
along carrying a woman on his hack, lie naturally sup- 
posed the woman to he- a crippl could not walk. The 

man was very -mall, while the woman was very large. When 
he came up, who should it he but the Dutchman, who was 
at his meeting. Mr. Lee rode up and inquired what had 
happened to his wife. The Dutchman replied, "Be sure, did 
n< >t you t< '11 us in yi >nr sernn >n d< >t we must take up der en »ss 
and follow Jesus or dot we could not get to Heaven, and 1 
dose desire to gel to Heaven a- much as anybody, and dis 
w ife 1- Si 1 pad -lie sci >ld me all der dime and dis woman is der 
greatesl 1 ross 1 have in dis world, and so 1 take- her up and 
bears der en >--." ._ 

In those exciting time- a new exercise broke out among 
the people, it was unlike anything that had been, since it 
la-ted about fort_\- wars and then disappeared. It was called 
the "jerk-" and was 1 >\ erw helming upon the mind- and 1" >dy 
of the people. No matter whether they were saints or sin- 
ner- they would he taken under a warm song or sermon and 



106 The Backwoods Preacher 

seized with a convulsive jerking all over and the more they 
resisted the more they jerked. If they would not strive 
against, and prayed in good earnest, the jerking would usual- 
ly abate. Cartright says that he has seen more than 500 
persons jerking at one time in his large congregations. Us- 
usally, persons taken with the jerks, to get relief as they said, 
would rise up and dance, some would try to run away bui 
could not, some would resist, and on such the jerks were 
very severe. To see those proud young gentlemen and 
young ladies dressed in their silks and jewelry and gew-gaws 
from top to toe take the jerks would often excite Cartright' s 
risibilities. The first jerk or so you would see those fine 
bonnets, caps and combs fly and so sudden would be the 
jerking of the head that their long loose hair would crack al- 
most as loud as a waggoner's whip. 

At one of Cartright' s appointments in 1804 a very large 
congregation had turned out to hear the Kentucky Boy, as 
he was formally called, among the rest were two finely 
dressed and fashionable ladies attended by their two broth- 
ers with loaded horsewhips. Althought the house was large 
it was crowded. The two ladies coming in late took theii 
seats near Cartright and their brothers near the door. Cart- 
right was not feeling well and had a vile of peppermint in his 
pocket. Before he commenced preaching he took out the 
vial and swallowed a little of the peppermint, while he was 
preaching the congregation melted to tears, the two young 
men moved off to the yard fence and both of the young 
ladies took the jerks and were greatly mortified. 

A.S Cartright dismissed the meeting a man stepped up to 
him and warned him to be on his guard for he had heard the 
two brothers say that they would horsewhip him for giving 
their sisters the jerks. "Well," said Cartright, "I'll see 
about that." He went out and said to the young men, "I 
understand you intend to horsewhip me for giving your sis- 
ters the jerks?" One replied they did. Peter undertook 



The Backwoods Preacher 107 

to expostulate with them on the absurdity of the charge 
against him, but they swore he need not deny it. for they 
had seen him take out of his pocket a vial in which he carried 
some truck that gave their sisters the jerks. Quick as a 
thought it came to his mind how he could get clear of the 
whipping, and jerking out the peppermint vial said : "Yes, 
if I gave yi >ur sisters the jerks I will give them to yi >n." In 
a moment he saw they were scared. Cartright moved to- 
ward them and they hacked, as Cartright advanced they 
wheeled and ran warning Cartright not to come near them 
or they would kill him. It raised the laugh on them and 
Cartright escaped the whipping. 



JUDGE OF HUMAN NATURE 
Cartright was a fine judge of human nature, he could 
read a man'- character by the time he got acquainted with 
him hence he had a different way of dealing with the vari 
characters lie met with. There was one way he had with 
dealing with preachers who read their sermons, he believed 
that if God called a man to preach he would furnish him with 
something to say. "Open thy month and I will iill it," or 
"it shall he given yon that how and what you shall say." 
Fancy John Wesley reading one of his sermons. F; 
Chrisl reading his sermon 011 the mount. Fancy Peter 
preaching his pentacostal argument by manuscript. Fancy 
Felix making his eloquent argument by note. Fancy all oi 
the witnesses in all age-. Fancy presiding elder spending 
about >ix hour-' at an appointment preaching a short e 
that perhaps was borrowed and holding two quarterly meet- 
ings in a week leaving home Saturday morning and getting 
k Monday evening and then wanting about thirty dollars 
for the work that was worth two dollars and a half, and then 
compare their work with Cartright's that would make tht 
rounds of his district in six weeks. Preaching from seven 



io8 The Backwoods Preacher 

to ten times a week and not getting on an average a dollar a 
day. It is no wonder that the "power has left the church 
and that the pastor can preach the whole winter and his 
words fall like water on a duck's back without leaving any 
impression. Another common amusement of the present 
day is church fairs, church entertainments, where the church 
and the world meet on a common level, where the church 
lays aside her ecclesiastical toga and says lay there till 1 
drink in this feast the world has prepared for me. In 
Cartright's time it was always in the guise of a dance. How 
he managed one of these gatherings is illustrated by the fol- 
lowing anecdote. 



CARTRIGHT AT A DANCE 

He was once traveling through Kentucky and stopped at 
a country tavern and asked to stay all night. The landlord 
told him he could but he was afraid he could not enjoy him- 
self as there was to be a dance there that night. Peter asked 
how far it was to the next house and was told it was seven 
miles. Cartright told him if he would feed his horse well 
and treat him civilly he would stay. Being assured of that 
he dismounted and went in. The people came in large com- 
panies. There was not much drinking going on. 

Peter took his seat in one corner of the house and the 
dance commenced. He sat quietly musing, greatly desiring 
to preach the next day. After concluding to spend the 
Sabbath there he asked the privilege to preach there on the 
morrow. A tall and beautiful young lady now approached 
him with pleasant winning smiles, asked him to dance with 
her. He, in a moment resolved on a desperate experiment. 
He rose as gracefully as he could with many emotions. 
The young lady moved to his right side. He grasped her 
right hand with his right, while she leaned her left arm on 
Cartright's; in this position they walked on the floor, the 



The Backwoods Preacher 109 

whole company seemed pleased at this act of politeness 
shown the stranger. A colored man. who was the fiddler, 
began to put his fiddle in good order. 

Cartright then spoke to the fiddler to hold on a moment 
and said that for several years he had not undertaken any 
matter of any importance without asking the blessing of 
God n])' >n it and now he desired to ask the blessing of God 
upon the beautiful young lady and the whole company who 
had shown such acts of politeness upon a perfect stranger. 
He here grasped the young lady's hand tightly and said. 
"let's all kneel down and pray." and then dropping on his 
knees commenced to pray with all the power of soul and 
body lie could command. The young lady tried to get 
away, but he held her tight; presently she fell on her knees. 
Some of the company knelt, some looked curious, some sal 
still, the colored fiddler ran out in the kitchen saying. "Lord, 
( ) Massy, what's de matter! What dat mean?" 

While Cartright prayed some wept aloud and some cried 
for mercy, lie rose from his knees and commenced to ex- 
hort, after which he sang a hymn. The young lady, who 
had invited him on the floor, lay prostrate and was crying 
for mercy. lie exhorted, sang and prayed nearly all night. 
About fifteen professed that night. The meeting lasted the 
next day and night and as many more were converted. 
Now, this condition of affairs would not be tolerated in some 
places. A man with such a bold manner of combating, the 
popular sin of dance, would be laughed at to scorn or be 
mobbed by the crowd whose designs he had flustrated. li 
was in politics that he had great power with men. Born a 
Jackson Democrat, when the Whigs and Democrats, both 
bowed their knee to slavery, he was an active worker in 
the Democratic party, both were proslavery alike. Cartright 
was elected to the Legislature twice over Abraham Lincoln. 
Of this he speaks with some pride, though when Lincoln 
Deal him for Congress lie does not say much about it. We 



no The Backwoods Preacher 

can explain this, that Gartright generally came out ahead in 
everything he undertook. It was his victories that he talked 
of, not his defeats. After his defeat for Congress, he sank 
out of the political horizon and did not appear again till 
treason's dark and damning cloud appeared to darken the 
horizon, did he make himself appear as a flaming torch. 
He canvassed the state as a war Democrat, preaching with 
the people to stand by the Government and Abraham Lin- 
coln. 



A FATAL ACCIDENT 

While Cartright was moving to Illinois an accident oc- 
curred to his third daughter and she was instantly killed. 
His wagon was overturned and came near killing his oldest 
daugliter. After righting up the wagon they concluded to 
camp for the night on the spot, as they were very tired. 
After getting things righted up and the evening being 
very warm, they concluded not to stretch their tent for the 
night, so a fire was kindled at the root of a small tree, the 
tree appeared to be sound. They all lay down and slept 
soundly. 

Just at daybreak the tree, at the root of which they had 
kindled the fire, fell, and it fell directly on his third daugh- 
ter, and it is supposed she never breathed afterward. Cart- 
right heard the tree when it started to fall and sprang up very 
much alarmed and seized the tree before it struck the child 
but it availed nothing. Although it was an awful calamity, 
yet, if they had stretched their tent that night the way the 
tree fell, it would have killed the whole family. The tree 
was sound on the outside to a thickness of a carving knife, 
but the inside had dry rot. Cartrig-ht sent his teamster to 
those living near by for aid, but not a soul would come nigh. 
The teamster and Cartright went to cutting the tree off the 
child, and carefully drew the child out. Cartright laid her 
in the feed trough and moved on twenty miles. 



CHAPTER IX. 




ANECDOTES OF CARTRIGHT 

{E WILL be pardoned for a few Cartright anec- 
dotes. The Methodist conference was being 
held at Nashville. Jackson was then in the 
youth of his power.; it was before he was a 
"good man." Peter was to preach in one of the fashionable 
churches in Nashville and the people was afraid that he 
would say somethng that would offend Jackson. 

So he had announced Ids text; just then Jackson and 
his mite came into the church and the preacher pulled Peter's 
coal tail and told him that was Gen. Jack- mi. Peter -topped 
and said in a loud voice, "Gen. Jackson; who is Gen. Jack- 
son; if he don't repent of his sins and be a better man 
God Almighty will damn him as quick as a Georgia nigger." 
PeterV friends then tried to get him to leave the city at 
once, feeling sure that Jackson would kill him on sight the 
next morning, hut Cartright said no; that he was taught 
to love everybody and fear nobody. The next morning, 
sure enough, one of Jackson's aides came into the hotel and 
handed Cartright a note to call at the Governor's man-ion 
,,t once. Mis friend- expostulated hut he went. Jackson 
met him on the sidewalk and extended his hand, saying: 
"You are a brave man, just the kind of a man I have been 
looking for. If I had a regiment like you 1 could whip the 
whole British Nation. Now," said Jackson, "you make my 
house your home as long as you stay in the city." This in 
cident onlv illustrates Peter's character. 



ii2 The Backwoods Preacher 

He never fained or fancied greatness, one man was as 
good as another. How different from many preachers who 
bow down to wealth and kiss the big toe of rich men, while 
the poor are too often neglected. Cartright may at times 
seemed warlike, too much like a boy with a chip on his 
shoulder. I recall the times he preached at Rock Creek 
campmeeting, when he would give his Cumberland brethren 
a jolt in final perserverance, and with a merry twinkle of his 
eye, appeared to see how they enjoyed it. He was as bold 
as a lion and as soft as a cooing dove. There was none 
before him like him. there was none in his time like him, 
and none after him like him. 

It has often been thought strange that Cartright should 
have died worth $50,000, when he spent his whole life travel- 
ing large circuits, with only a small salary. His estate con- 
sisted of a large farm, which he bought at Congress price, 
and he always lived on it, never moved from one district 
to another. He settled on his farm away back in 1830 and 
the farm got to be quite valuable. It was situated eight 
miles southwest of Petersburg, in the edge of Sangamon 
County, but we always considered him a citizen of Menard, 
as he came to Salem very often. 

He had quite a family. One daughter married Wm. 
Newman, who was a presiding elder; another married 
W. D. Trotter, who was another noted preacher. Another 
married Patten Harrison, who was one of the most noted 
rowdies of his day, and who caused Peter a great deal of 
trouble in his day. While his sons, Peter and Matt, were 
not noted for the piety, but the farm was run in Peter's 
absence in good order. He had about 600 acres and always 
held onto it and had a good home where he could rest 
from his long circuits. He would start north for 100 miles, 
then cross the Illinois River to Rock River, then down to 
Galesburg ; thence to Canton, then to Pike County, cross at 
Beardstown, then home after six weeks' absence. 



The Backwoods Preacher 113 

CARTRIGHTS APPEARANCE 

Cartright, ever since I knew him, always wore a white 
hat with a broad r'm. It must have been a brother to the 
one Horace Greele* wore. It looked like the hat that Mar- 
tin Waddle, the hatter, in Salem, used to make: the nap and 
fur on it were a half inch long. I have often seen him 
come to Salem, and I knew him by his hat if nothing else; 
the hat he wore in the "thirties." might not have been the hat 
he wore in the seventies, but it was the same kind and was 
made on the same block. 

In personal appearance Cartright resembled Dick 
Oglesby more than any other man I can think (^i. I knew 
both men. in their time they both had the same kind of 
voices, and both, in ther declining year-, had the same 
tremulous voice. The last time I saw Cartright was in 
[868, when he stayed at my house for five days : the last 
time I siu I covernor ' Iglesby was at the ( >ld Salem Chautau- 
qua in [898; they had both outlived their days and genera- 
tion, but people hung on their words with great reverence, 
as < >glesby was a power in the political world, so Cartright 
was a power in the religious world; nobody doubted the 
courage of Oglesby. lie carried enough lead in his body 
to vindicate that and at the Salem Chautauqua, from his 
feeble voice, his unsteady step, most of the audience were 
conscious that they would hear his voice no more. When 
Cartright left my house in [868, I said to my wife we will 
see Uncle Peter no more, it was his last round, lie had 
fought a good light and kept the faith and henceforth a 
cr< >\\ n wa> laid up for him. 

A few years after the death of Peter Cartright. the final 
summons came to Mrs. Cartright, whose activity of body 
and mind continued to the last. This happened jus: as sh< 
had finished speaking at a Methodist love feast in the 
Pleasant Plains church. Her closing sentence was about 



ii4 The Backwoods Preacher 

her life duties being so near finished; that she was "Only 
waiting for the chariot of the Lord," she sank back suddenly 
to her seat. Willing hands were reached to her assistance ; 
she did not need them. The "Everlasting arms" had taken 
her spirit home. Rev. Harden Wallace, who had charge of 
the meeting broke silence by saying: "The chariot has 
come." It had. She was buried beside her husband in the 
Pleasant Plains Cemetery. 

Samuel Hill, the Salem merchant, was not a man of 
much physical strength himself, but was in the habit of 
taking some delight in whipping any person that might be 
offensive to him. It was he that hired John Fergesson to 
whip Jack Armstrong, and for the job was to give a set 
of blue edged plates. John got the plates, but said it was 
the dearest set of plates he ever had. It was when Cart- 
right was at his best that Hill conceived a dislike for him. 
but no bully ever took the job of whipping him from Hill. 
Cartright appeared to take great pleasure in coming and 
sitting under Hill's porch and annoying him. He would 
come and sit for hours and laug'h and talk about Hill, while 
Hill stayed indoors. He was describing one day to a crowd 
how he viewed Hill's soul. He said he had some doubts 
whether he had a soul till one day he put a quarter of a 
dollar on Hill's lips, when his soul came guggling up to get 
the piece of silver. 



CHAPTER X. 




RIDING HIS CIRCUIT 

X Till 7 , pioneer days there were no roads, the 
prairie grass was as high as a man's head, and 
paths were the only guides the pioneers had. 
Cartright would travel all day without passing 
a cabin of the hardy pioneers. It was easy to travel through 
the timber, but the prairies were not then settled. When 
he would come to the edge of the timber the cabins would 
end. Then he would strike across the prairie from one point 
of timber, and would have t<> go by the sun or some other 
natural course. Sometimes night would overtake him and 
he would cam]) out. Think of that, ye ministers of these 
latter days, who ride in pomp and splendor in palace ears 
and get four times as much for doing half the pioneer 
preachers did ! 

They had these routes through the timber belts marked 
i>\ blazing. They would take a line of trees in a row. and 
with an axe scalp the bark on the right side about four feet 
from the ground, so that a traveler could always have a 
half dozen scalped trees ahead of him. So Cartright traveled 
by paths through the prairies from point to point and 
through the timber by scalped trees, not meeting a fellow 
traveler from ten to twenty miles. During those miles of 
solitude He had time to think up a good sermon, for it is 
when alone that the best thoughts of man come to him — 
there being nothing from the outside world to distract his 
thought^. One reason why he performed so much work 



u6 The Backwoods Preacher 

was his strong and hardy frame; for it is a fact that a 
strong and vigorous frame produces strong and vigorous 
thought; a short face, narrow between the eyes, indicate 
a narrow mind and feeble thoughts. Give me a preacher 
like Cartright — one of vigorous frame and intellect. Cart- 
right wore a 7% hat. It was only a hat made by the home 
hatters, and weighed double that of the hats made now. 
The body of his hats were always a quarter of an inch 
thick, with a rim five inches wide, the crown eight inches 
high, and the nap one-half inch long, heavily lined with silk. 
The hat he wore when I first knew him I think lasted him 
twenty-five or thirty years. 

He was nothing if not friendly; no man or boy escaped 
his attention. Full of wit and good humor, he could enter- 
tain a crowd of one or one hundred. When he thought he 
was right no earthly power could persuade Cartright to 
abandon a principle. He was like Henry Clay; he would 
rather be right than be president. I will relate an incident 
which will illustrate this : On a certain occasion he met an 
interesting family, the father of which was a drunkard. 
The family joined the church and the old man was also 
friendly. They met one time at a store. The drinking man 
called for cherry bounce. He sweetened it for Cartright, 
out of pure love for him, and invited the preacher to drink 
with him. Cartright refused, and told the man that he had 
given up the practice. The man then told Cartright that 
if he did not drink with him he would be no friend of his or 
of his family, and that he would never go to hear him 
preach again. Peter told him that it was all in vain to 
urge him, that his principles were fixed and that he would 
not violate them for man or mortal. The man then flew 
into a rage and cursed and abused him. Peter walked off 
and left the man in his glory. He never forgave Cartright, 
made his family leave the church and lived and died a 
drunkard. 



The Backwoods Preacher nj 

CARTRIGHT GETS A LITTLE BOOZY 

Brothers Walker and Cartright were out once together. 
They started early in the morning, traveled twenty-five miles 
and arrived at Knoxville about noon. They rode to a 
tavern, but finding a great, noisy, drunken crowd. Cartright 
said to Walker: "This is a poor place for weary travelers; 
we will not stop here.". They rode on to another tavern, 
but it was still worse, for the people were drunk and a real 
bully fight was going on. Cartright proposed to Walker 
that they go on where they could find some private entertain- 
ment where it would be quite. So they went on. Present- 
ly they came to a house with a sign over the door of "Private 
Entertainment and New Cider.*' Cartright said: "Here is 
the place; it we can get some good light bread and new cider 
that's dinner enough for me." Walker said that was exactly 
what he wanted. They accordingly halted and an old man 
came out. Peter inquired if they could have their horses 
fed, and obtain some new light bread and some new cider. 
"Alight." -aid the landlord, "for I suspect yon are two 
Methodist preachers and have been to Baltimore to the con- 
ference." They replied they had. The horses were then 
well fed. and a loaf of good light bread and a pitcher of new 
cider was set before them. The landlord was an ( Hterbean 
Methodist. His wife was sick and she senl for the preachers 
to come and pray for her. They did SO, and then returned to 
eat their bread and drink their cider. The weather was very 
warm, and soon they were laying in the bread and cider at 
a rapid rate. It seemed to Cartright. however, that it was 
not only new cider, but something more, and he began to 
rein up his appetite. Walker laid in liberally, and at length 
Cartright said to him, "You had better stop, for this is 
surely something more than cider." "I reckon not." replied 
Walker. 

Cartright was not in the habit of using spirits at all. 



n8 The Backwoods Preacher 

He knew that very little would floor him, and presently he 
began to feel light headed. He instantly ordered their 
horses, fearing that, for once, both himself and Walker 
would get a little boozy. They then mounted their horses 
and started on their journey. When they had ridden about 
a mile Cartright rode up to Walker and cried out, "Wake 
up ! Wake up !" Walker roused up, his eyes watering 
freely. Cartright then said, "I believe we are both drunk. 
Let us turn out of the road, and lie down, and take a nap 
till we both get sober.'" But they rode on. not drunk, but 
they felt it flying to their heads. I have thought it proper 
to mention this in order that others might be put on their 
guard. 



CAPACITY FOR WORK 

Cartright accomplished a wonderful amount of work 
during his ministry — more than any of our modern presid- 
ing elders of the present day, while his salary was scarcely 
$100 a year, and more often less than more. He always 
contended for the Methodist usuages — the campmeetings, 
class meetings, prayer meetings and love feasts. When 
Methodism began to throw off these meetings the church 
was shorn of its strength and was a Sampson in the hands 
of Deliah. In these early days its members always looked 
forward to a quarterly meeting with delight as a season of 
refreshing from the Lord. But how is it now ? It is rather 
dreaded. The elder comes and reads a sermon that he prob- 
ably borrowed from Talmage, or if he didn't, it would have 
been better if he had, for the congregation would have had 
a better one. At the close of the sermon then comes the 
tug of war ; the preacher announces that it is necessary to 
raise about $15 for the elder, and when the congregation 
seems to have its mind in a suitable frame to take the 
sacrament, the struggle for the $15 begins. How many 



The Backwoods Preacher 119 

$1 men, the preacher asks, are in the house. After that, 
how many 50c. men, and then how many 25c. men. If 
it still lacks a little the steward will wait on the congrega- 
tion and gather up the fragments, that nothing may be lost, 
says the preacher, and the result is that it requires all the 
talent the preacher in charge has to raise the elder's claim, 
well knowing that his next appointment depends on his 
ability to raise money for the elder's one sermon, while the 
early father spent about a week for one-fourth of what he 
got. I speak this not in a spirit of criticism or fault-finding, 
but as a real fact that exists. Cartright appeared to have 
the spirit of prophecy and to see in the future what has 
come to pass. The church has lost its power. The bishops 
have sounded the alarm— "the church lost thousands of 
member- last year." What is to be done? Let a voice 
from the grave of Cartright answer: "Return to the old 
path-, do thy first work over, lest thy caudle stick be re- 
moved out of it- place." 'I'he Methodist church, in its 
primitive state, was the gospel to the pool-, in all ot our 
large cine- the poor have to take a back seat in the church. 
"Do thy first works over." Pardon this digression. The 
onlv apology we make for this style is that we feel like it, 
anil, like Carrie Nation, only do it because those in authority 
refused to speak out. 

When Cartright first started out as a preacher, a single 
man was allowed to receive $80 a year, if his circuit could 
raise that much, but he seldom received over $30 or $40, 
and this, with a few presents and wedding lee-, wa- all he 
got. He traveled eleven circuit- and twelve districts; re- 
ceived on probation and by letter 10.000; children bap 
tized, 8,000: adult-. 4,000; funerals preached, 500. For 
twenty years of his mini-try he preached a- often a- 400 
times, which would make 8,000 sermon-. Nor did he 
have his sermons written. In the la-t thirty-three years of 
nis life he averaged four sermons a week, making in thru 



120 



The Backwoods Preacher 



time, 6,600; total, 14,600. He was a great man. for camp- 
meetings and prayer meetings. He was converted at a camp- 
meeting, and in his early ministry lived in a tented grove 
from two to three months in a year. He said : "May the 
day be eternally distant when camp-meetings, class meet- 
ings, prayer meetings and love feasts shall be laid aside in 
the Methodist churches." 

Cartright was never afraid to rebuke spiritual wicked- 
ness in high places, as the following instance will illustrate : 
While a member of the Legislature he was invited to take 
supper with the Governor. They sat down to the table, and 
the Governor was going to pass the dishes when Cartright 
said : "Hold on. Governor, ask a blessing." The Gov- 
ernor blushed, stammered and excused himself, and then 
asked Cartright to ask the blessing. The preacher did so. 
and then gave the Governor a lecture about a man of his 
high position eating without offering thanks to the Giver of 
the supper. No doubt the Governor never sat down to a 
meal after that without thinking of the rebuke. 



CHAPTER XI. 
THE BAPTISTS 




1 1 E Baptist church played an important part 
in the spiritual welfare of the people of Menard 
County in its early days. The Hanlshells were 
perhaps the most numerous back in 1840. 
They often had preaching at my father's house in Salem, 
because it was the largest house in the village. John 
Anile, who lived at Salisbury, and who was the father 
of the late Dr. Francis P. Antle. was a fair preacher, 
though he had an ah-h-h at the end of every sentence. 
Then there was Crow and Bagby, who could not preach 

without the holy tone and who like Whangd lie thought 

it better to have a hardshell than no shell at all. 

The Hanlshells were opposed to the more progressive 
sentiments of the other sects. An incident will serve to 
illustrate: At a meeting in the Baptist Church near Felix 
Green's, where everything was done by the church. Bro. 
Green was turned out of the church for having joined Dr. 
Allen's temperance society. At the same meeting Bro. 

A was charged with being drunk, and was also turned 

out. Bro. P , who was loaded for hear, got tip and, 

steadying himself, pulled out a flask and shook it till u 
beaded, and said: "Brethering, it seems to me that you are 
not sistenent. I consistent ) because you have turned out one 
man for taking the pledge and another for getting drunk. 
Now, brethering, how much of this critter have I got to drink 
to have good standing among your" 



122 The Backwoods Preacher 

Another portion of the early Baptist Church was repre- 
sented by Til ford Clark, who was a fine preacher and con- 
ducted revivial meetings in the school houses and private 
residences. 

In 1842 Abraham Bale came from Kentucky and created 
a commotion. He was considered a great preacher. Tall, 
well formed, with a powerful constitution and a voice like 
a lion, he could wake the natives for a half mile 'round. 
He held wonderful revivals all over the country and bap- 
tized converts in the River Sangamon, even as John the 
Baptist did in the River Jordan. I have seen him administer 
baptism to fifty at a time, just below Salem mill. A couple 
of men or women would get the converts ready and pass 
them to Bale, who would soon have them put under the 
water in good style, while the rowdies above would throw 
in dogs and logs and otherwise disturb the proceedings, and 
when going to and from the river would run their horses 
and whoop and yell like Indians. At one of his baptizings, 
just as he was about to lead a sister out into the water, her 
husband, who was watching the ceremonies, cried out: 
''Hold on, Bale ! Hold on, Bale ! Don't you 'dround' her ! 
I wouldn't take the best cow and calf in Menard County for 
her!" 

Bale's star outshone every other star for a few years 
and then he moved away. His brother, Jacob Bale, tried 
his hand at preaching for a time but did not make much of 
a success at it. 

"Pres" Curry has sounded the gospel trumpet in Menard 
County for nearly sixty years and has probably baptized 
more people, preached more funerals and married more 
couples than any other man. "Pres" does not take to any 
so-called improvements in theology. He thinks the Bible 
should be interpreted as it reads ; hence his sermons are of 
the doctrinal sort, and he never considers a sermon com- 
plete unless he has the Baptist mode of baptism somewhere 



The Backwoods Preacher 123 

in it. He is an earnest preacher, and still thinks the old time 
theology the best. 

The Baptist Church in Menard Comity has filled it;, 
mission well and among- the churches in Petersburg the one 
on Main street, south of the court house, has done as much 
to better the spiritual condition of the people as any other. 



THE CAMPBELLITES 

In early days it was no stigma to call this division of 
the army of the Lord Campbellites. They were the fol- 
lowers of Alexander Campbell and were not ashamed of 
their parentage. Now, we believe, they prefer to call them- 
selves Christians, which is not objected to, unless they lay 
claim to being the only church that is entitled to the name. 
In early days it was said that the Campbellites and the 
doe-fennel took the town every fall; that is, the church had 
a revival about the time the dog fennel crop ripened. Some 
worthy evangelist would come along and after a tew day-' 
preaching would increase fifty to a hundred and go on his 
wa\- rejoicing. 1 remember Aaron White a- a zealous ad- 
vocate of the doctrines of this church. He always carried 
his Testament with him. with marked passages of scripture, 
ready n 1 defend his faith. 

At Sugar Grove William Engle was a preacher belong- 
ing to this church. Me was a short, heavy-set man. of good 
speech, and never let any man get ahead of him in an argu- 
ment. All old settlers remember "Bill" Engle. lie was a 
jolly story teller. 1 heard him and "Fog" Atchison telling 
in Petersburg which had the fattest sheep. Engle said: 
"I tell you. Mr. Atchison, I have the fattest sheep. An ox 
hooked one the other day and we rendered it it]). It was all 
tallow and it- tail made a tallow candle." Me got the langh 
on Atchison. 



124 The Backwoods Preacher 

The Christian Church has many schools and colleges. 
One at Eureka turns out many young men well educated. 
The church has taken advanced ground on the temperance 
question and most of its' preachers and members are prohibi- 
tionists. 



THE PRESBYTERIANS 

Dr. Allen's coming to Petersburg in 1840 was the be- 
ginning of that church. For a time the meetings were held 
in the old court house, an old building in which Septimus 
Levering kept store at an early day. It was in the middle 
of the block, three blocks south of the public square and on 
the west side of the street. Jim Taylor kept store on the 
south corner of the block and the Hoeys on the north cor- 
ner. After a while a small church was built north of where 
Rule's livery stable now stands, where other denominations 
also held meetings when it was not occupied by the Presby- 
terians. A preacher by the name of Gault held meetings 
there for a number of years. He was a good preacher, 
but, Presbyterian like, read his sermons, which lessened their 
effect. William Cowgill, the Frackeltons, Dr. Allen and a 
few others represented the Presbyterian Church in the 
"forties." A large and substantial brick church was erected 
one block west of the square later on. The old church is 
now occupied by S. B. Bryant as a paint shop. 



METHODIST CHURCH 

A representative man in the early history of the Method- 
ist Church in Petersburg, was Rev. George Barrett, a young 
man, full of vigor and very popular. The old settlers re- 
member his eccentricities. He would read his text and if 
anything engaged his attention he would make a remark 



The Backwoods Preacher 125 

and go ahead. In reading- his text one morning he said : 
" 'And the Lord said unto Moses' — Bob Davidson you be 
still !" Then he went ahead and finished his text. Barrett 
was a good feeder. One year his circuit took in Pecan 
Bottom, where the natives lived on pumpkins, cooked in 
various styles — stewed pumpkin, dried pumpkin, pumpkin 
pie, etc., etc. Barrett got tired of this kind of provender 
and one morning he thought he would tell the Lord about 
it; so he prayed: "Oh. Lord, we thank thee for the 
genial sunshine that causes the corn to grow, to fatten the 
the hogs for meat to eat, that thy servant may have strength 
to fit him for the arduous duties that lie before him. And 
now, Lord, may it please thee to blast the pumpkin crop, for 
we cannot perform our work on such diet." After that 
Barrett got all the meat lie wanted. 

Barrett died about ten years ago in Morgan County. 
He made a trip to Europe in the latter part of his life. 
Crowds of beggars beset him in his travels. 1 le finally dis- 
covered that if he took his store teeth out of his mouth he 
could scare the beggars by running after them wth his teeth 
in his hand. He was not annoyed any more by beggars. 



OLD - FASHIONED CAMP - MEETINGS 

In the early days of Menard County (then a part of 
Sangamon) there were no churches and the religious meet- 
ings were held in the little school houses or in private resi- 
dences. Once a year camp-meetings would be held. The 
Cumberland Presbyterians appeared to lead. There were 
three large congregations of that denomination within the 
bounds of Menard County from 1830 to 1845. At Cnn " 
cord, north of Petersburg, where one of these camp-meet- 
ings was held annually, a large shed was built under which 
the preachers held forth. The Pantiers. the Rutledges and 



126 The Backwoods Preacher 

the Berrys were the prominent campers. My father would 
move to the grounds on a Thursday afternoon. Camps 
would be built around the shed, and by Sunday the grounds 
would present the appearance of a small village. 

Back of the camps the women would do the cooking. 
Two big logs would be put close together with an upright 
forked pole at each end. Across these forks another pole 
would be laid, on which were hung the pots and kettles in 
which meats and vegetables would cook while the meeting 
was going on. 

A great drawback and an endless source of annoyance 
was the great number of dogs round the camp. Each man 
had from one to a dozen, and it kept the women busy trying 
to prevent the hungry canines from getting into the dinner. 
I remember one camp-meeting when James Berry had a 
dozen hounds there and it looked as though they would 
break up the meeting. 1 appointed myself a committee on 
dogs. The grounds were covered with a growth of walnut 
trees. A green walnut, applied with sufficient force against 
the side of a hound, would make him yelp for several seconds 
and the sound would travel down the ravine the echo would 
reverberate back again. 

The preachers got onto the dog racket and determined 
to stop it. I had been pelting the dogs one afternoon and 
was watching as well as praying. Just after I had taken a 
good lick at one, Guthrie A\*hite ran up behind me, turned 
me around and when he saw who I was. exclaimed in aston- 
ishment : "Why, it's one of Bro. Onstot's boys!" "Now," 
said I, "I'm trying to protect these women's cooking from 
these hounds, and if Jim Berry don't want 'em hurt, let him 
keep 'em at home." Guthrie saw the point and I continued 
in the discharge of my duties as dog pelter. 

It was the custom at those meetings to feed everybody 
that came and this made very slavish work for the women. 

There was good singing. The preacher would read the 



The Backwoods Preacher 127 

hymn in a loud voice and then would "line'* it and every- 
body would sing. Music boxes hadn't been invented then. 
The preacher didn't ask any of the brethern to ''pitch and 
carry the tune." 

Old Sammy Berry and James Pantier were the oldest of 
the members. Berry must have been over seventy and could 
talk and shout. He was of a serious turn of mind and 
seldom laughed or even smiled. He was a brother of Rev. 
1. M. Berry, of Rock Creek. Pantier was very eccentric. 
He would sit in front of the preacher and repeat his sermon 
as fast as the preacher preached it. Sometimes he would 
get ahead and sometimes approve what the preacher said; 
again, he would shake a linger at the preacher and say in 
a low tone, "you are mistaken," or "that is not so. brother." 
He was a faith doctor and could cure the bite of a snake or 
of a mad dog. 1 [e would take the patient into a room and 
rub the wound and mumble some hocus-pocus and the 
patient would get well. 

There was - iund preaching in th< ise days. The preachers 
preached hell and damnation more than they do now. They 
could hold a sinner over the pil of tire and brimstone till 
he could see himself hanging by a slender thread, and he 
would surrender and accept the gospel that was offered to 
him. 

There were a g 1 many rowdies around Concord al 

that time. They would get steam up on whisky and go to 
the camp meeting to raise a row. I have seen some of these 
sinners get under conviction and start to run. and fall down 
and lie for hours before they were converted. Nowadays 
a church will just vote a sinner into the kingd >m. or just 
have him hold up his hand, then publish "a great revival." 

At Lebanon the camp-meeting was similar to that at 
Concord. Old Robert White, and the Rayburns, the Kin- 
caids, the Williamses and other were always in attendance. 
I believe this was the oldest camp-meeting ground in the 



128 The Backwoods Preacher 

county. Neal Johnson was a pioneer preacher in that sec- 
tion before I was born. He was a man of large stature and 
wac accounted a great preacher. My father was converted 
under his ministry, before he moved to Salem, some time 
before the winter of the deep snow. 

The Old Salem Chautauqua reminded me more of an 
old-fashioned camp-meeting than any gathering I have seen 
in late years, except that at the camp-meetings they had 
prayers at all the tents at sunrise. The voice of song arose 
from the tents and then some lusty old brother with a voice 
like a foghorn would wake up the natives by giving God 
advice and directions how to run this world of ours. 



PETER CARTRIGHTS TOMB 

In less than two years after the death of Peter Cartright 
it was reported by some enterprising papers that his estate 
was insolvent and his wife left in destitution. B. F. Irwin, 
of Pleasant Plains, replied through the Springfield papers 
that Mrs. Cartright had been amply provided for in the 
will of Dr. Cartright, and that the probate records of San- 
gamon County showed his estate to be worth $50,000. 

Several weeks since, a newspaper item went the rounds 
saying that Peter Cartright and his wife were buried in a 
private graveyard and their graves were unmarked and 
greatly neglected and overgrown. This item got into the 
Illinois papers quite generally. This was followed by 
various comments calling for "Organizing a society to erect 
a monument over the grave of Peter Cartright," etc., etc. 
Of course, as there are not yet enough little local societies 
to give everybody a "treasurership" or "presidency," this 
was a "taking" call for a new one, and efforts to organize 
began in some places. 



The Backwoods Preacher 129 

But Mr. Epler, who is president of the Pleasant Plains 
Cemetery, started a denial of this story -in the Journal of 
Springfield, saying the graves of Peter Cartright and wife 
were marked by an appropriate stone in the above cemetery, 
that their graves were not in a private burying place, and 
that the cemetery was "one of the best kept up ones in the 
state." 

The facts are, further, that at the time of the death of 
Mrs. Cartright there was about $3,000 left of the Dr. Cart- 
right estate, to be divided among the heirs. And about the 
"unmarked grave," the facts are that two years before Dr. 
Cartright's death he had a S600 double monument erected 
for himself and wife in the Pleasant Plains cemetery. The 
inscription in full for both, except the date of death, was 
placed on the stone as written by Peter Cartright. He had 
carved on his monument the first text he ever used, as fol- 
lows: "Trust ye in the Lord forever, for the Lord Jehovah 
is everlasting strength." 

There is such a peculiar unfitness of associating the 
names of Peter Cartright and his wife with a call for post 
mortem charity, that no one who knew either of them and 
their thrift and fore-thought would be liable to be deceived. 










lUenard County 




CHAPTER XII. 

N THE early settlement of Menard County there 
were natural divisons that preserved their iden- 
tity. East of the Sangamon River there were 
New Market. Lebanon and Athens; west of the 
river was "Wolf County," which was bounded on the north 
by Rock Creek, on the west by the Springfield read, on the 
south by Purkapile branch, and on the east by the river. In 
this territory lived a population from Kentucky. There 
was Case Pemberton, the horse trader; it was as good as 
going to a circus to go past his house in trading season. 
Horses by the dozen could be seen, awaiting their turn for 
a "swap." lie lived there many years, then moved to 
Mason County, and finally to California, where, if yet living-. 
I have no doubt he is still trading horses. Jack Pemberh 
a brother of Case, was constable for a long time. After- 
wards he moved to Mason County and died near Forest 
City many years ag< >. 

There was schmick, who cleared f>il a farm in 

the center of Wolf, when he could ha good farm 

in the prairie without clearing it. lie had a large ox team 
and a plow with a wooden mould-hoard that could turn 
over just what the yokes on the oxen could bend over. 

There were the Tibbses, the Wisemans, the Duncans, 
the Hohimers, the Hornbuckles, and others whose names 
sixty years of time have obliterated from my memory, 
though it is good. 



132 History of Menard County. 

These were the original settlers. They were a kind 
people and would divide their corncake with a friend. They 
were fond of the shooting match and the "muster" which 
was held once a year ; and at a house-raising or any gather- 
ing the Wolverines were always on hand. They would 
come to Petersburg in good humor, but after filling up on 
whisky were ready for a racket among themselves, though 
preferably with outsiders. "George, you have torn my 
shirt." said little John Wiseman to Greasy George Miller. 
"Yes," said George, "and I can tear your hide, too !" A 
ring would form at once and twenty men would stop to see 
fair play. The men would pound each other till one would 
cry "enough," and that would settle the matter of the torn 
shirt. 



At Clary's Grove and Little Grove were the Gums, the 
Watkinses. the Dowells, the Arnolds, the Bonds and the 
Kirbys. They would come to Petersburg on a Saturday 
afternoon, twenty-five or more in a body, "strapping big" 
fellows, bare-footed and riding their three-year-old colts 
barebacked. On they would come with a dash, single file, 
whooping and yelling, "Jess" Kirby in the lead. A band 
of Comanche Indians could not give the warwhoop more 
lustily than "Jess" and his gang. After riding around 
the court house square several times they would face up in 
front of a saloon and get their breath ; then one of the crowd 
would challenge the world in saying that his "hoss" could 
beat any other "hoss" that ever made a track in the 'Burg 
for $10. This was a bluff. They had no intention of run- 
ning. Then they would tie their horses to the hitchracks 
and do their trading, which consisted mainly in getting 
something to drink or a plug of "terbacker." 

About this time the boys from the north would begin 
to arrive. The Clarys were in the majority. Bill Jones and 
Royal Armstrong had a lot of boys and in a short time they 



History of Menard County. 133 

would arrange a wrestle or a jumping match, or some 
amusement that required an exhibition of physical strength. 
Or, perhaps, they would match a horse race to come off the 
next Saturday on Joe Watkins' track. The bets rarely ex- 
ceeded ten dollars. 

The next thing in order was to go in swimming at 
the old Elm tree, which was a short distance above the 
bridge. There was almost any depth of water there, and 
the boys would take their three-year-old colts in the river 
to break them. A horse is at disadvantage when in water 
over his depth. The boys would take one in, several of 
them would get on his back, others would cling to his 
mane and some to his tail, and by the time they let him come 
out thev could do almost anything with him. This sport 
would last a couple of hours and then, back to town. Every 
man to his horse, and after galloping around the square 
"Jess" Kirby would strike for Tanyard Hollow with a 
warwhoop and a yell, and the Grove boys were gone until 
the next Saturday. The Wolf and Sand ridge boys were 
not under such good control and went home as they pleased. 

I often winder what kind of men these pioneer boys 
made. Have their lives been spent in dissipation, or have 
they made men of honor and integrity, whose children rise 
up to call them blessed? Many of them I have never met 
since boyhood, when we were all reckless. Some of them, 
I know, have been among Menard's honored and respected 
citizens. 



Family feuds were common in the early days. Over 
some imaginary wrong or insult one family w< mid become 
arrayed against another family and it required only a spark 
to kindle a flame. I recollect two families, one by the name 

of C , the other by the name of \Y . who had for 

years been nagging each other. One day in the ''thirties,' 
at Salem, the quarrel was renewed. \Y said : "Let's 



i3-( History of Menard County. 

go across the river and settle it, once and forever; and let 
no person go across with us." C agreed to the proposi- 
tion. The crowd went to the river and not a man was 
allowed to go over with the combatants. They stripped and 
fought like beasts till both were down ; then those who were 
on the Salem side of the river thought they should be parted, 
so they went over and made them shake hands, and they 

were friends from that time. W never saw a well day 

afterwards and died in a year or so as the result of injuries 
received in the encounter. This incident is given to show 
the kind of civilization that was predominant in those days, 
though many of the old citizens never had to contend with 
its barbaric customs. Only those who trained in that class 
were subject to its conditions. 

As Governor Palmer said at Old Salem Chautauqua 
last August, the horserace, the gander pulling and the shoot- 
ing match had to give way to the Chautauqua. In coming 
years, when the old citizens of Menard shall annually as- 
semble on these consecrated grounds with their children 
and their children's children, they will have cause to bless 
the new order of thingfs. 



STORIES OF PIONEER DAYS 

In December, 1830, it commenced snowing and it snowed 
till the middle of February, 183 1. It is remembered by 
all the old settlers as "the winter of the deep snow." It 
created great hardship all over the country. People were 
not prepared for it. The feed was out in the fields ; the 
stock did not have sheds to protect them ; the roads were 
impassable; the tops of the corn shocks could just be seen. 

We lived in the west part of Salem before we moved 
into the hotel. My father had a team of horses and a 
cow and had a few acres of corn on Thomas Watkins' 
farm, a mile west of Salem. The roads were covered from 



History of Menard County. 135 

four to six feet deep with snow with a hard crust on top 
that would let a horse down through, though a man could 
walk on top. Father would start out in the morning and 
be gone all day and dig out enough corn fodder to feed 
two days. It snowed every day for two months and the 
track that was broken one day would be filled the next. 

Every person now living who was born before that 
winter is called a "Snow Bird." I was born just before 
and have my snow bird badge which was given me at 
the Old Settlers' meeting at Sugar Grove four years ago. 
I prize it very highly and would not trade it for a hundred 
wild turkeys running at large in Oregon. 

I don't recollect the deep -now. yet I have heard it talked 
about so much that I sometimes think I saw it. 

There was very little traveling in those days. It was 
all the snow birds could do to stay at home. There was 
not much to travel for. The farmer- had their bread and 
meat at home. If they ran out of meal they had their 
hominy mortars at home and could soon make some coarse 
meal. They had salted down their pork that was fattened 
on acorns. They did not take a daily paper as we do now. 
I doubt if there was a daily paper taken within the bounds 
of Menard county. Indeed. I doubt if there was a daily 
paper printed in the state. 

But it kept 011 snowing until the snow birds began to 
wonder if it was going to snow all summer. In February 
it began to thaw and the waters raised till they measured 
higher than they ever had before or since the days of Noah's 

flood. 

The country then was full of deer, wild turkeys and 
prairie chickens. The snow would not hold up the deer; 
their sharp hoofs would cut through and they would sink 
down, while the wolves could travel on the snow and de- 
vour the deer. The deer finally got so thin that the wolves 
could find nothing but hide and bones to pick. That winter 
nearly cleaned the deer out. The other game did not fare 
so badly- 



136 History of Menard County. 

THE COLD DAY IN 1837 

Things ran along smoothly after the deep snow till 
December, 1837. This day I recollect as well as if it was 
yesterday. It had been a warm, drizzly day. My father 
had cut a tree in the back part of the yard and us kids were 
carrying the wood to the house. There was nothing in air 
or sky that showed signs of an approaching storm, when, 
quick as a flash, an awful cold wave swept over the earth 
at the rate of sixty miles an hour. It came on without 
any warning. The mercury fell roo degrees in less than 
five minutes. Hundreds of people all over the state were 
caught out and unless near some house were stricken down. 
Their clothes that were wet froze so stiff that they were 
unable to walk. It was the time of year when hogs were 
being driven to Beardstown to be slaughtered and sold. 
Several droves from Menard county were on the way and 
part of them were frozen on the prairies, and the men 
driving them had to seek refuge in the nearest farm house. 
There was no telegraph in those days and the number of 
people that were frozen to death will never be known. 

This cold day formed another cycle and things were 
dated before and after the cold day in 1837. 



Granny Spears, who officiated at more than half the 
births within a radius of a dozen miles of Clary's Grove, 
always rode horseback. She had been captured by the 
Indians in her girlhood and spent several years with them 
before she was rescued. She learned many of their cures 
for diseases. She had good success in doctoring children 
and had many remedies. Some of the old settlers will doubt- 
less remember Granny Spears' salve and other medicines. 
She followed her calling till over 90 years of age. I recol- 
lect her as a little old woman whose chin and nose came 
nearly together. She was the mother of George Spears 
and was a very useful woman. 



History of Menard County 137 

In the "forties" there were in Menard county two old 
soldiers who had fought in the Revolutionary War. One 
was Daddy Boger, who lived in Wolf county. He was a 
small man and made baskets. People would buy his baskets 
to help him. I don't know whether he got a pension or not. 
He would come to Petersburg every Saturday. He always 
carried a bushel basket on each arm — baskets made of good 
white oak splits. He would sell his baskets as soon as he 
got in town, then do some trading and after resting awhile 
would start home. The other soldier, who lived north of 
Petersburg, was old man Short, the father of James Short. 
He was a good turkey hunter. Wild turkeys were very 
plentiful in the Sangamon bottom. About a half mile east 
of his house he had a pen built of logs and covered with 
brush, in which there was corn, and when the turkeys would 
come close enough he would tire into them. One evening 
James Short went down after him and found him with his 
leg broken and sixteen turkeys dead. The old man was so 
excited that lie forgot and his gun kicked him over and broke 
his leg. There were about fifty turkeys and they had come 
within fifty feet of him. Just as they discovered him and 
raised their heads he took them in the neck. 



CHAPTER XIII. 




THE GREEN FAMILY 

LD BILLY GREEN," as he was called in the 
"thirties," was perhaps one of the oldest set- 
tlers. He lived about a mile south and a mile 
west of Salem. A half mile north of his house 
was a large branch that flowed all the year around. It 
was called the "Purkapile branch." A mile farther on and 
it emptied into the Sangamon. A mile above Salem Mills, 
north of the branch, the woods were filled with a growth 
of timber from eight to ten inches in diameter. A little 
to the north and forty rods east stood the Baptist Church. 
It must have been built some time in 1820. It was used 
also for a schoolhouse. Here is where I went to school 
for five years; Uncle Menter Graham was the teacher. 
Most of the time he lived in a brick house a half mile north. 
On the south of the branch the soil and timber was entirely 
different ; the soil was black and covered with a growth of 
sagetree, with some large red oak, ash and elm, with no 
under brush. The ground was covered with a fine coat of 
grass and as the road from the branch to old Billy's was 
up an incline for a half mile I used to think it was like Para- 
dise, especially in sugar making time, with hundreds of 
sugar troughs catching the sap, and the Green boys — Gaines 
and Jim — with a sled and one horse gathering up the sugar 
water to be boiled. And there the large apple trees that 
nearly hid the house always attracted attention. They 
must have been set out in an early day and always bore 
a fair crop of large red apples, and they were all good eat- 
ing apples, if I can testify. Here lived Uncle Billy Green 
and his wife, Lizzie. Here he raised a large family. Uncle 



History of Mexard County. 139- 

Billy was a quiet man that never had any difficulty with 
his neighbors. Gaines and Jim generally done the trad- 
ing with the neighbors. They had a large amount of wood- 
land, of trees of the first growth. Xo woodman's axe 
had ever cleft the forest. About once a year in August 
a storm would pass through and leave an immense amount 
of limbs broken off, so Gaines and Jim would sell it to 
the Salemites. Aunt Lizzie Green was a woman who 
made her mark in the community. I recollect her as a 
very zealous church-worker. The Baptist Church, north 
of the branch, was for many years the religious center 
of the community; it fact, the hardshells were the most 
numerous of any denomination. Among their preachers I 
remember Crow, Bagley, Fosters and Centre. One of 
their sacraments, which has now gone out of use. was the 
washing of feet. Christ -aid. "] have washed your feet, ye 
ought also to wash one another'- feet." and while we are no 
theologian and never made it a study, we would like for 
Brother Curry or some other -ticker for ancient customs to 
inform the community when foot washing was abolished. 
At the monthly meeting- we have seen the brethern and 
sister- sit on a long bench and remove their shoes and 
socks, and one brother with a basin of water would wash 
their feet. 1 and would remark that some of their feet 
needed washing); and then Lizzie, with a towel, would 
follow up and wipe them. This was all done in good order. 
Again we ask Brother Curry to inform us why feet are not 
washed now. As we said, Green raised a large family. 
There was Felix, who lived just west of the Baptist Church; 
he was a man of some force. We recollect Felix comimj 
one time to the schoolhouse to settle a little scrap with Cousin 
Menter, and came out second best. Felix Green also had a 
large family. His oldest daughter, Polly, married Alex 
Pemberton. 1 1 is son, Beaurope, it will be remembered, was 
hung on a black jack tree in Forest City twenty-five years 
ago by a mob. There had been some horse stealing and 



14° History of Menard County. 

Beaurope Pemberton was implicated. Most all the actors 
in that mob have passed in their checks. Felix Green had 
a son, Evans, who was a rather fast young man. I will 
deal mostly with the first generation of the Greens. There 
was "Slicky Bill" Green, as he was familiarly called, who 
was perhaps the best known of any of the Greens. He got 
an education at Jacksonville college, went south after he left 
Salem, but came back and in 1852 lived less than a mile 
from Forest City. When I moved on the prairie I worked 
for him some in that early day. He often gave me good 
advice how to get along in the world. I once cut his 
meadow oirthe halves with a scythe. 

There was Nancy Cox, who died in Manito about forty 
years ago, and Frankie Armstrong, who lived near the old 
Green homestead, the mother of a number of sons and 
daughters. There was Nult Green, who married Nancy 
Able. They lived in an early day adjoining Forest City. 
They had a boy Johnny Green, who was as small as Tom 
Thumb, and for years exhibited him on the road. Johnny 
was smart and a great favorite with the people. There was 
Robert Green, who I think moved to Texas. Next was 
Gaines, a prominent farmer of Mason county, who died 
a few years ago. He married one of Joe Watkins' daugh- 
ters, and was one of Menard's most respected citizens. 
James Green went to Texas in an early day. Sallie Green 
had one hand that was palsied. She married Jerry Twom- 
bly, a Yankee, who lived just west of Frankie Armstrong, 
and Mary married William Centre, and may be living yet. 

Menard county is settled up by families I used to know. 
One family has increased till there is now a dozen families 
of the same kinship. They keep multiplying and the surplus 
find homes in western territories. Their farms descend from 
father and son. In Mason county it is very different. 
The land does not descend to the same family when death 
or removal makes it necessary to divide up a homestead. 



History of Mexard County. 141 

Some German, who by thrift and economy, has saved up 
his money, is a competitor for the land and the rightful 
owner of the soil goes west. 



A PIONEER GONE 

"We learn by the daily papers that William Green died 
at his home in Tullula last Sunday. As we haV'e known 
him for sixty years, we may be pardoned for a few recol- 
lections. We remember him first as a young man when 
Salem was in the height of its glory. His father lived one 
mile west of that historic town, and had a large family — 
mostly boys. William was the second son and never worked 
on the farm, but took a course at Illinois college, Jack- 
sonville. We recollect him at Salem as connected with 
the immortal Lincoln. He always had a tact and talent 
for making money — what the world terms shrewdness. 
From Salem he went to Tennessee, where he lived a num- 
ber of years and married. He returned to Illinois, and in 
1X48 settled where William Xeikirk now lives and built 
the house that now stands there. He was the money king 
of this county, and any man who needed money could 
always be accommodated, though the rate was often 5 
per cent a month. He told us that he scarcely ever lost a 
debt, and that the man would always find him on hand 
early in the morning. 1 le was identified with early religious 
organizations in this section, and when the first Sunday 
school was organized here, at a private house, Mr. Green, 
by his presence and financial aid, helped the good work 
along. Born and raised a Democrat, he voted that ticket 
until the beginning of the war when his personal friendship 
for Lincoln made him an ardent Republican ; and during the 
war he was one of the President's trusted advisors. As a 
business man he was strict and exacting; as a neighbor he 
was kind and accommodating, as all the early settlers here 
will testify, lie died at the ripe age of over four score 
years. 



i4- History of Menard County. 

THE WATKINS FAMILY 

Away back in the "twenties," before I was born, the 
Watkins families settled in what is now Menard county. 
There were several families of them. Tom and Joe, 
brothers, deserve more than ordinary mention. 

Tom Watkins settled west about half way between 
Salem and Petersburg. He owned a large tract of land be- 
tween Mentor Graham's and the Pollard farm, on the north. 
He was tall and as straight as an Indian. He built a large 
brick house in a beautiful grove of trees, where he raised 
a large family. His eldest son, Joe, was a frequent visitor 
in Salem in the early days, but became dissipated and died 
while young. He was never married and went the way of 
Bill Berry and others of his time. During my first school- 
ing at the old Baptist Church, near Felix Green's, Joe 
Watkins still came to school. 

Henry Bale married Scynthia Watkins, John Ritter 
having married the eldest of the Watkins family. John 
Warefield married Sail}-, and Tom, who died this spring, 
married a Goldsby. I saw Tom every day at the Old Salem 
Chautauqua last fall, with his wife. Pie appeared to be 
proud of her, and one day he said to me: "Onstot, I'll 
give $10 in gold to any man on this ground that can show 
a prettier woman than my Mary, who has lived with me 
for 50 years," and nobody took Tom up. 

McLain, who has been a cripple for sixty years, still 
resides near Petersburg, and Bent, the youngest, died sev- 
eral years ago. So Tom Watkins had quite a family. 

One of his peculiar occupations was dealing in race 
horses. He had a breed of small horses that could run a 
quarter of a mile like a streak of lightning. He had a 
track west of his house, where he trained the horses, and 
a high spot about half way gave him a good view. On any 
fair day Watkins would have his horses on the track to 
run, while he watched their manoeuvres. I think he did all 



History of Menard County. 143 

this for his own gratification, as I don't recollect of his 
running- for money with other sporting men. 

Tom Watkins always had money to loan at 10 per cent 
interest, the lawful interest of that day. The last time I 
was at his house was when the Chicago & Alton was in the 
course of building. He was much excited about them cut- 
ting the right-of-way through his timber. "Just ruining 
all my timber," said he. "cutting down all my young wal- 
nuts.'" He had enough timber to have supplied him 1,000 
years and rails only Si a hundred. 

Joe Watkins, his brother, lived on the ed^c of Little 
Grove. There was no resemblance in their looks. While 
Tom was tall and slim, Joe was a very heavy man. He 
would weigh 300 pounds. You could always find him 
sitting on his porch in pleasant weather, lie was king 
among the dweller- of Little Grove. He kept a race track 
known as "Old Jo.-'- Track." and many a dollar has been 
lost and won on that track, and many a hard fought battle 
after the race was over. 1 recollect Bill Jones undertook to 
whip Gaines Green after a race, and came out second best. 

Joe Watkins. while not so well off as his brother. Tom, 
was "well heeled." Joe had two boy-. Bill and Beve. They 
married Elizabeth and Sarah Armstrong, daughter- of Hugh 
Armstrong. These boy- had the same chance a- other b 
to get a common school education, but negk ■ improve 

the opportunity. 1 made out a check for Beve about thirty 
years ago. 1 [e had bought $1,100 worth of stock near For- 
est City, and asked me to write the check and sign his 
name. 1 was surprised, and asked him if he could not 
write. I le -aid. "No, 1 never learned when 1 had a chance." 
[oe Watkins. like his brother, Tom. raised a large family, 
and did his part in multiplying and replenishing the earth. 
They were good pioneers, and done much in developing 
the county. The future historian will give the Watkins 
family due credit. 



144 History of Menard County. 

Old Johnny Watkins, who lived on the line between 
Clary's and Little Grove, was a forty-second cousin of the 
other Watkins families. I remember him as a jolly old 
man, and a great story teller. My father used to buy a 
dozen trees of him in the spring for stave timber, and then 
cut them and peal the tan bark and sell it for enough to 
pay for the trees. 

I remember Uncle Johnny had a madstone, and could 
cure mad-dog bites. The stone was not much bigger than 
a dollar, and he kept it in milk to soak all the poison out. 
If a person had been bitten the stone would cling tight to the 
wound till it was full of poison and then drop off, when it 
was soaked in the milk again and this repeated until the 
poison was drawn out. The stone was given to Uncle 
Johnny by a friend in Pennsylvania when he started for 
Illinois, and kept getting smaller. It was also good for 
snake bites, though most people now use whisky instead, 
not realizing that whisky has bitten thousands to one it 
ever cured. 

There was another Watkins family, cousins of Tom and 
Joe. We will speak of Sam as a representative man. 

Sam lived the latter part of his life near Oakford. He 
has been dead for ten years. His personal appearance was 
striking, a well built man, rather heavy. He wore a slouch 
hat and a red flannel shirt with the front opened, disclosing 
a hairy bosom. He was given to running horses, too, as all 
the Watkins were. Sam was always on the lookout for 
victims, and had no trouble finding them. He would get 
possession of some fast horse, and turn the animal on pas- 
ture until the hair would lay forward and his mane and 
tail were full of cockleburs and Spanish needles. Having 
secured a horse of this kind that had a fast record, Sam 
went to Peoria to attend the races, and played the dudes out 
of a large amount of money. W r e are indebted to Sam Corn- 
well, of Havana, for the following account of "how Sam 
done it the first dav of the races." 



History of Menard County. 145 

Sam stood around with his hands in his breeches' 
pockets, watching- the horses and laying his plans. The 
second day he staggered up to the crowd and said. "I don't 
think you've any fast hosses here." The dudes thought 
they had caught a tartar. "Have you got anything, old 
hayseed, that can beat them?" said they. "I don't know." 
said Sam. "hut what if I could find a hoss that could do 
it." "Bring him in. trot him out," said the crowd, "and 
to make it interesting hack him up with $25." "That is a 
good deal of money," said Watkins, "but I know George 
Walker down in town, and I think I can get the money 
from him." , "Oh. make it $50," said the crowd, who now 
thought they had a green one to deal with, and they kept 
on bantering until they got the -take up to several hundred 
dollar-. Sam's turn now come, and he led them up to 
$1,000. The race was to come off next morning. When 
Sam appeared on the track with his horse a yell of delight 
arose from the crowd. "Old Cocklebur," cried they, "is 
that the horse you propose to run against our line horses?" 
"That is my ho--." -aid Sam. "hut I want to draw the race. 
My rider i- a- drunk as a devil, and you taking my money 
would he worse than stealing.", "You don't gel off that 
easy," said they, "the race mu-t come off. Hurry up, old 
hayseed." Sam took his rider by the foot to help him on 
the horse, hut the rider still played drunk and fell to the 
ground. "No more fooling." said they, and once more the 
rider mounted the horse, not drunk this time, but erect 
and as line a rider as ever rode a race, and Old Cocklebur 
went round the track ahead of the Peoria horses and won 
h\ 100 feet. Sam'- backers, who had been stationed in the 
background, now appeared and demanded their money. 

The crowd was dumbfounded, "Who arc you, any- 
way?" they asked. "I am Old Sam Watkins. of Menard 
county; did you ever hear tell of him?" "Sold out by 
Cockleburs," said they. "sold, sold!" 

to 



146 



History of Menard County, 



~FLAT~BOM' oW i 




SALEM IN 1837 



History of Menard County. 147 



EXPLANATION OF MAP 

1 Mill and Dam. 

2 Jacob Bales. 

3 McNamar's store. 

4 The Log Tavern. 

5 Dr. Allen's residence. 

6 Aleck Fergesson's cabin. 

7 Hill's store. 

8 Hill's residence. 

9 The Carding -Machine. 

10 Martin Waddle. 

11 William McNeely. 

11' Henry ( histot's cooper shop. 

13 H. Onstot's residence. 

1 1 Miller's blacksmith shop. 

15-16 Miller & Kelso residence. 

17 Road from Petersburg. 

18 Road from Mill West. 

19 Springfield road — South. 

20 The Lincoln cellar 

with the three trees growing. 

21 Grave Yard. 

22 Schoolhouse. 

23 Gander Pulling. 



CHAPTER XIV. 




OLD SALEM ON THE HILL 

HE PLAT of Salem is correct, as the old settlers 

will testify, as Mrs. Hill had it in her scrap 

book, and as it was published in 1892. It was of 

her that J. McCann Davis got it and published 

it in his writings in McClure's Magazine for December, 

1895, without giving me the proper credit. 

No. 2 on the bluff was where Offit and others kept 
store, when the store was taken possession of by the rowdies, 
and Radford was glad to get an offer for it from "Slicky 
Bill" Green, and Green then sold it to Lincoln and Berry. 
It is here where the three trees grew up out of the cellar, 
which Governor Palmer at the last year's Chautauqua said 
were planted by Lincoln, which was one of the many mis- 
takes the Governor made, as the trees, by the size of them, 
cannot be over twenty-five years old, and it was twenty- 
five years after the house was torn down before they were 
sprouted. Some tall scenes were enacted at this house while 
standing. It was here that the rowdies put old Jordon in 
a barrel and rolled him down hill into the river. We sup- 
pose he thought "Jordon was a hard road to travel." A 
post stands within a few feet of the cellar with an inscrip- 
tion as the place where Lincoln and Jack Armstrong had 
a wrestling match, which is doubtful, as if such an oc- 
currence had happened it would have been up in the town. 
The old house has had a history, and though it was a small, 
unpretentious building it will pass down in history as the 



History of Menard County. 149 

building where Lincoln sold goods. The actors have all 
passed away. "Though they may forget the singer, they 
have not forgotten the song.'' 

No. 3 is where Jacob Bale lived. He was a Kentuckian 
by birth, and had a large family. Hardin Bale was the 
eldesl boy, while Henry and William were younger; Fannie 
was the oldest. She became the wife of James Summers ; 
next was Sophia; then Mary Jane, and Susan, the wife of 
John Sampson. The Bale family was one of the prominent 
families of Salem for nearly twenty years. Jacob was a 
man of not much education and finally became a preacher, 
we suppose, because his brother, Abraham, who came from 
Kentucky in 1843, was also a preacher. Jacob's house was 
the last to be moved away. The well still stands. It was 
walled with rock and is now covered with old railroad ties, 
and is in a good state of preservation, and is called "Jacob's 
Well." Abraham had a voice like a lion, lie had a habit 
when preaching of grasping his left ear with his hand, then 
leaning over as far as he could and lowering his voice, lie 
would commence to straighten up and his voice would raise 
to a high key. lie would pound the bible with his fist 
and stamp the floor, and carry everything before him. lie 
created excitement in the first years of his ministry in 
Salem, lie was a Baptist, though not of the hardshell 
persuasion. Hardin was Jacob's son, and was a natural 
machinist, and for a number of years ran the carding ma- 
chine in Salem. The power was an incline wheel forty 
feet in diameter, and oxen were used instead of horses. 
The cogs were all made out of hickory wood. 1 think Jacob 
1'. ale's family are all dead, except Susan, the wife of John 
Samps< m. 

Xo. 4 was a >tore house. On the north side of the 
>treet at the head of the hollow, where the road came from 
the north, is where Lincoln kept store with Bill Berry and 
where since, and later on. McXamar did business. The 



150 History of Menard County. 

spot is still marked by the cellar. I recollect seeing the 
house full of shelled corn before it was torn down. I sup- 
pose the corn was shipped down the river by flat-boat. 1 
don't know how the corn was shelled, as it was before 
shelters came around. The houses on the diagram were 
all on the street that ran east and west. There were a 
number of small houses south of the street and east of the 
hotel row. Herendon lived in one. He acquired some 
notoriety by shooting and killing his wife. Whether acci- 
dental or on purpose the people were about equally divided 
in their opinions. He was fooling with a loaded gun and 
it went off and killed her. There was Nelson Altig and 
Napoleon Greer, a justice of the peace, and Johnson El- 
more and Alex Trent. I recollect going to Elmore's once 
for some sauerkraut. Mrs. Elsmore was taking it out of an 
old churn and a long yarn string came out of the churn. 
My brother called her attention to it. She said it was some 
of the ravelings of Clara's stockings which she had on when 
she was tramping it in the churn. Clara afterward be- 
came the wife of Abraham Bale. The vacant spot of ground, 
south of the road and east of Jacob Bale's, was used for 
horse racing and gander pulling, a sport that has gone out 
of date, and if it should now be attempted those engaged 
would be indicted for cruelty to animals. Men would often 
run foot races on this ground, and even repair there to fight 
out their quarrels. 

No. 5 was the two-story log tavern. It was built in 1830 
by James Rutledge, and kept by him till 1833, when Henry 
Onstot, my father, became landlord for two years. It 
was the stopping place for travel from the east through Ha- 
vana and the western part of the state. It was 16x30, with 
an ell 16x20, and was two stories high. Abraham Lincoln 
boarded at this hotel all the time he lived in Salem. I 
well remember him as a marble player and a quoit pitcher. 
He could plump the middle man nine times out of ten, and 



History of Menard County. 151 

kept the small boys running after marbles. He was a jolly, 
good-natured fellow and followed surveying after he quit 
merchandising and the postomce. I have often seen him 
shoulder his compass and start out and be gone for two 
weeks. He would stay at Jack Armstrong's sometimes for 
a week or so. After father moved out Nelson Altig kept 
it for some time, and the last landlord before it was torn 
down was Michael Keltner. He had a lot of big girls, 
among which was Catherine, a large buxom girl twenty 
years of age. About this time Tarlton Lloyd, a rich 
widower, aged sixty, lived on Rock Creek, and as is the 
usual case with old widowers, was looking around for a 
young wife. Catherine thought it a good chance and set 
her cap for him. It was a marriage of convenience and 
the day was set for the wedding. Keltner was poor, but 
the neighbors all helped, and a grand dinner was set and a 
large number of guests invited. Long tables were set. My 
mother helped cook. Keltner reasoned that Lloyd would 
probably live ten years and then leave Catherine a widow 
of thirty, and then she would have a good home, a fat dower, 
and be comfortable the rest of her days, but the best laid 
schemes often fail. Catherine died at forty years, and 
Lloyd didn't die till he was 104 years old. An incident 
happened at the wedding that I shall never forget. James 
Hoey, of Petersburg, was master of ceremonies, and at- 
tempted to carve the turkeys with a tight pair of gloves 
on his hands. One old gobbler, that was rather tough, while 
he was sawing away on it, slipped off the dish on the floor, 
where two small dogs went to fighting over it. As there 
was a number of turkeys left, the dogs were allowed to 
have it. 

I thought when T commenced writing of Salem, that 
one small article would do, but it appears that when I com 
mence to write a spirit of inspiration hovers over im- 
pend!. 



152 History of Menard County. 



THE WEST END OF SALEM 

In my writings of old times in Menard it is as it was 
when I knew it, not as it was in after years, and my imagina- 
tion is just as vivid and fresh as though the incidents only 
happened yesterday. 

No. 6 was Hill's store. This is the place where 
all persons congregated. Hill came at an early day and 
was an important personage as long as Salem lasted. He 
made a trip to St. Louis in the spring and fall. First going 
to Beardstown ; he would then take a steamboat to St. Louis 
and would stay a week or so. A stock of goods in those 
days would be a curiosity now. His standard goods were 
blue calico, brown muslin, and cotton chain for the weaver. 
No luxuries were indulged in. There was no canned fruit 
then, no dried fruit, as the farmers brought in dried apples 
and peaches. Hill's store was headquarters for all political 
discussions. The farmers would congregate there and dis- 
cuss the questions of the day. Peter Cartright, who was a 
politician then as well as a preacher, would spend hours on 
the porch, and by his wit and sallies keep the audience in 
an uproar of laughter, and the man who undertook to 
badger Uncle Peter always came out second best. Cartright 
was a frequent visitor at Salem and had not then risen to 
the zenith of his fame as a preacher. 

No. 7 was where Dr. John Allen lived. He came to 
Salem in an early day and soon had the leading practice in 
the country. He was a Christian gentleman of the highest 
type and belonged to the Presbyterian Church. He was 
verv aeeressive in all his views. He soon had a Sunday 
school going. There being no school, he would open his 
house. After a while the doctor organized a temperance 
society, which raised great opposition, even the church 
members were his great opponents, the hardshelled Bap- 



History of Menard County. 153 

tists. Dr. Allen was lame in one leg, and consequently 
had a heap of ups and downs in life. While living- in Salem 
he married Margaret Moore, who lived near Indian Point. 
She died about the time he moved to Petersburg, which was 
in 1840. He was a good collector. In the fall of the year 
he would buy dressed hogs and make bacon of them, and 
would send them to St. Louis and thus collect his bills. He 
kept at this after he moved to Petersburg, and would salt 
down 200 or 300 head. 

No. 8 was Hill's dwelling near his store. In 1837 he 
married Parthena Nance, a sister of Hon. Thomas Nance, 
a prominent man. who lived on Rock Creek, and who died 
in the past year. 

Across the street in No. 9, lived Alexander Ferguson. 
If he had an occupation, it was as a shoemaker. In the 
fall, farmers who had taken their hides to the tan yard 
the year before, would bring them to Ferguson with the 
measures of the whole family. 1 have seen William Samp- 
son come after hi-- shoes with a two bushel sack and take a 
dozen pair home. They were very rough and would not 
be worn now. Alex. Ferguson had a brother that was a 
great lighter, lie would tight any man jn>t to show how 
g( m id a man he was. 

No. 10 was the carding machine, rim by Hardin Bale 
for several years, before he moved it down to Petersburg 
in [841. Every person kept sheep in those days, and took 
the wool to the machine where it was carded by taking 
toll out of the wool or sometimes they would pay for it. 
They commenced bringing in wool in May and by June 
the building would be full. It was amusing to see the sacks 
of all sorts and sizes and sometimes old petticoats. For 
every ten pounds of wool they would bring a gallon of 
grease, mostly in old gourds. Large thorns were used to 
pin the packages together. Hardin Bale did not spin or 
weave till after he moved to Petersburg, lie was a man 



154 History of Menard County. 

of great energy and a natural machinist. In early life 
everything he touched turned into money. In after life 
everything went against him. 

No. 1 1 was Robert Johnson's, the wheelright. He made 
looms, spinning wheels, and chairs, and was a very useful 
man in the community. He had two daughters and one 
son, Nannie and Amanda and his son Robert. Johnson's 
family always camped at Rock Creek. Mrs. Johnson was 
very religious and was subject to the "jerks," which was 
worse than the shaking ague. After a severe spell she 
would be sick for several days. 

No. 12 was the residence of Martin Waddle, the village 
hatter. No hats were sold by the storekeeper, except straw 
hats. Waddle made hats for 50 cents out of rabbit fur, 
and hats of coon fur as high as $2. He had one son and 
several daughters. There were Jane and Polly Waddle and 
the boy's name I have forgotten. I think Waddle had all the 
work he could do, though the hats he made would be a 
curiosity now. 

No. 13 was the cooper shop of Henry Onstot. Cooper- 
ing was a great trade then and the best of white oak tim- 
ber was close at hand. He would cut a dozen trees in the 
spring and have the staves seasoned a year ahead. Bale v s 
mill used a great many flour barrels and there was a good 
demand for country trade. The surplus was sent to Beards • 
town and Springfield. 

No. 14 was one of the busiest places in town. It was 
Miller's blacksmith shop. Everything in iron had to be 
made, and the iron had to be forged out of large bars of 
iron. 

No. 15 was my father's house after 1835. It was a large 
log house with a frame room on the west end. The house 
was used for preaching. Rev. J. M. Berry preached here 
for a number of years. His sermons were always doctrinal. 
Final perseverance was his best hold. He would sandwich 



History of Menard County. 155 

it 011 some place in the sermon, and he was a great sticker 
for infant baptism. After his son, William Berry died, he 
was a very solemn man. The only way I could get even 
with the old Cumberland preacher was when I rode his 
horses to water. I put them through for a mile or so at a 
fast gait. No preacher in those days ever rode in a car- 
riage. He was always horseback, with a pair of saddle 
bags, and he always carried books. 

Nos. 16 and 17 was a double log house. In the west 
end lived Jack Kelso with his wife. He had no children 
and was a jolly, contented specimen of humanity. He had 
no trade and was ready to do a day's work if wanted. In 
summer he depended on his fish hook. He was an expert. 
He could catch fish when others couldn't get a bite. In 
winter his trusty rifle always kept him in meat. In the 
fall he would find enough bee trees to furnish him with 
Ik nicy. His wife was a sister to Miller's wife. He always 
lived well and was a happy man. In the other end of the 
house lived Joshua Miller, the village blacksmith. He was 
a short, heavy man. and had a son named Caleb and a 
daughter named Louisa. He always had plenty of work 
and when work was slack he would iron a wagon. Miller's 
was the place where the whangdoodle preachers held forth, 
bin as a preacher in Mississippi said : "It was better to have 
a hardshell than no shell at all." I have now endeavored to 
picture Salem in its glory, and if James Bale will have it 
mowed off next Chautauqua and stakes are furnished. I 
will locate where every house stood that I have described. 



OLD SALEM UNDER THE HILL 

It was once a bustling town. It was the place where all 
trade centered. I well remember when it was in its glory. 
It was over a half mile long. The main street ran from 
the mill west to Miller's blacksmith shop on the right hand 



156 History of Menard County. 

with Onstot's cooper shop on the left, with Dr. Allen's field 
of twenty acres, at the west end of town, and a little farther 
on was Menter Graham's brick house, with forty acres 
cleared out of the barrens. There was only one street run- 
ning east and west, except where the Springfield road turned 
south from the log hotel. The Hill's and Bale's carding 
machine and Hill's store, with Lincoln's and Green's and 
McXamar's and Offit's stores, formed a nucleus around 
which trade centered, while Waddle's hatter shop, Miller's 
blacksmith shop, Onstot's cooper shop, Johnson's wheel- 
right shop, and Alex Fergesson's shoe shop, made a nice 
little humming town. 

It was the only town, till Petersburg began to grow, be- 
tween Havana and Springfield, with Sangamontown eight 
miles north of Springfield and Athens about the same dis- 
tance on the east side of the river. The transformation of 
the name of New Salem to Old Salem may not be under- 
stood by all. The original name of the town site was New 
Salem. In the course of time there was a Salem in Mason 
county, and a postoffice by the name of New Salem, and 
when the Chautauqua began to arouse importance there 
was a danger of getting names mixed, so it was wisdom 
to call the oldest Salem, Old Salem, and so the historic 
spot where old Abe spent the formation part of his life 
goes by the name of Old Salem. 

The mill was built by Cameron and Rutledge as far 
back as 1825. It was a lively place, though now in these 
days of rollers and patent flour it would be out of date. 
In those days people went to mill on horseback; if a farmer 
wanted to send four sacks to mill he sent four boys with 
a two bushel sack on each horse, and it was sometimes said 
that he would fill grain in one end and a rock in the other 
end to balance. It might have been the case when it was 
a jug in one end. Fancy, if you please, forty horses hitched 
up the sides of a steep hill with their heads forty-five de- 



History of Menard County. 157 

grees higher than their hams, and forty buys fishing or in 
swimming, or playing fox and geese on the bottom of the 
"Miller's Half Bushel." and you have a*good idea how the 
boys spent their time when they went to mill. 

My uncle Sampson would come to mill in his wag' mi. 
He had old Rock and Slider for the wheel horses. He did 
not use check lines. He rode Rock for a saddle horse and 
then he had Yona, a black mare, he brought from Vir- 
ginia, hitched to the end of the tongue, that was ten feet 
longer than the wheel horse, and with a single line he would 
make old Yona keep the wagon straight. He would start 
to mill with one of his boys and a week's provisions and 
never go home till he got his grist ground. 

The mill ran all the year. Jacob Bale was the owner 
as Ear back as 1 can recollect, and his boys, Hardin. 
Henry and William, run the mill. There were bush< 
corn gmund to one of wheat. People used corn bread 
six davs in a week, and on Sunday morning, if we children 
had been g< >< id all week, then we had biscuit and preserves. 
The meal was used principally for corn dodgers. Two 
quarts of meal were mixed with cold water, with a little sail 
added, and the conk would grease the skillet and make three 
pones that lit in the skillet, and as the finishing touch would 
give it a pat and leave the print of her hand on the bread. 
and then with a shovel of coals on the skillet lid, would 
bake it SO hard that you could knock a Texas steer down 
with a chunk of it. or split an end board forty yards off- 
hand. Milk and mush or milk with corn bread crumbled 
in. was the diet the kids were raised on. 

The destruction of the mill and dam has been complete. 
1 supposed the dam was fixed for all time and that after 
the mill had been burned that the dam would stand for a 
thousand years, and that the water would spurt through 
the rocks till Gabriel should sound his trumpet. 

The dam was built of stone in cribs made of timber, 



15S History of Menard County. 

and more than 1,000 loads of stone were filled in them. 
Where all the stone has gone is a mystery, and now, like 
Jerusalem, not one stone is left on another. 

In 1832 a steamboat, the Utility, came up the Sangamon 
as far as the mill and laid there a week. Hundreds of 
people came from miles around to see the boat, and though 
now it would be considered a very slim pattern for a boat, 
it attracted great attention. It was a stern wheeler and 
not over 100 feet long. Salem was then the first town after 
leaving Beardstown and many air castles were built, and 
Salem was to be a great river port. This incident gave a 
boom to Salem and most of the building in the town was 
the result of the visit of this boat. In a year or so the 
Talisman, a large boat, a side wheel boat, came up and went 
up above the dam as high as Springfield and came back. 
About this time Petersburg was laid out and John Taylor, 
who was the proprietor of Petersburg, bought the boat and 
dismantled it. The engine and boiler were used in the first 
steam mill at Petersburg. It was old style and its "cough" 
could be heard for miles around. A large business was 
done at the mill for ten years, till the boiler was burned out. 
John Webb run it last. It was both a saw and grist mill. 

And so Salem began from Rutledge & Cameron's mill 
to grow into a town of considerable importance. It had 
a large share of the trade north of Rock Creek, around west 
to Clary's Grove, Little Grove around north, Concord and 
the Sandridge on the east, Indian Point, New Market and 
Athens, and those that came from these localities were the 
Tibbs, Wisemans, Hohimers, Hornbuckles, Purkapiles, Mat- 
tlings, Goldbys, Wynns, Cogdalls from the south ; from the 
west was the Berrys, Bones, Greens, Potters, Armstrongs, 
Clarks, Summers, Grahams, Watkins, Gums, Spears, Con- 
overs, Whites, Jones; in the north, Pantiers, Clarys, Arm- 
strongs, Wagoners ; on the east were Smoots, Godbys, Rig- 
gins, Watkins, Whites, Wilcoxs, Clarks, Straders, Baxters, 



History of Mexard Couxty. 



159 



and a host of others. Most of these have passed in their 
checks, but their children still occupy the farms. In Mason 
county, if a farm is for sale, some German is sure to gnib 
it up. while in Menard it is kept for generations in families. 
The men I have named were visitors at Salem from the deep 
snow till 1836, when Petersburg- began to compete for their 
trade, and the mill and carding machine still held their 
custom. The inhabitants were all from Kentucky and Vir- 
ginia and laid a good foundation for future generations. 




CHAPTER XV. 



OLD SETTLERS' DAY 



■" 



HE attendance at the twenty-eighth annual re- 
union of old settlers of Menard county, held in 
Tallula on Wednesday, was not so large as 
those of former years, many doubtless being 
kept away by the unpropitious weather. Rain interfered 
seriously with the exercises, both in the morning and in 
the afternoon. Addresses were made by Rev. H. P. Curry, 
of Petersburg, and T. G. Onstot, of Forest City. Both 
were of a reminiscent nature and were especially interest- 
ing to the old-timers. The rocking chairs for the man 
and woman who had resided longest in the county, con- 
tinuously, were awarded to W. C. ( "Top") Green and Mrs. 
Mary Beekmnn. 

Rain brought the exercises to an abrupt close in the after- 
noon, and secretary John Tice's necrological report and 
other features of the program were omitted. 

Following is the synopsis of Mr. Onstot's address: 
Fellow Citizens and Old Settlers of Menard County : 
I feel highly honored to be with you today. ] suppose I 
am one of you. In fact, I am a "Snow Bird" — born in 
Sugar Grove in 1829. while the Indian wigwams were st 11 
among the Salt Creek bluffs — cradled in a log cabin on a 
farm now occupied by Henry Marbold, my father having 
settled there in 1825. My first recollections of life are of 
Old Salem, which was then called New Salem, and which 



History of Menard County. 161 

was then the central city of what is now Menard county. 
The mill on the Sangamon river, built by Cameron and 
Rutledge in- 1824, was one of the first improvements in the 
central part of the county. 

The early pioneers were composed of two classes. The 
first were God fearing men and no sooner had they built 
their cabins and cleared a few acres of ground than they 
erected a log schoolhouse with clapboard roof, for the edu- 
cation of their children and for holding religious meet- 
ing-. This audience, composed mostly of the third genera- 
tion, know but little of the hardships and privations your 
fathers and grandfathers underwent. Your mothers and 
grandmothers were as great heroines as your fathers and 
grandfathers were heroes. I shall call to your memory 
many names worthy of mention: many whose names are 
worthy to be written high on the scroll of fame. Many of 
these are no more with us to help celebrate this day. but 
the good influences of their useful lives and good examples 
are with us. 

Clary's Grove, with Little Grove on the north, was 
among the first settled. You will recollect George Spears 
a>> an early settler, lie built the first brick house in the 
grove and was an influential citizen for many years. 

Near by Spears lived Roberl Conover. His first wife 
died in an early day and he married again and moved near 
Petersburg. 

"Uncle limmv" White will be remembered by the first 
settlers. lie had a large family of sons and daughters. 
Guthrie White was one of the finest preachers in Central 
Illinois, but he got to lighting the Catholics and virtually 
butted his brains out against a stone wall. The people once 
elected Uncle Jimmy to the legislature. 

John Kinner was a son-in-law of White. Tie had the 
finest bellflower apples in the county, but I never liked his 
way of bringing them to town, lie had them tied up in 
two bushel sacks to keep us boy-, from sampling them. 



1 62 History of Menard County. 

Isaac Bell was another son-in-law of White. Other 
noted men in Clary's Grove were Theodore Baker, William 
Beekman, John Haley Spears and William Spearr.. A little 
farther north lived Jesse Gum, a little old man who always 
came to town in an ox cart. "Uncle" Jesse liad a large 
family of boys. John B. Gum died in Havana six years 
ago. He built a hotel in Petersburg and was county sur- 
veyor at an early day. 

A little farther north Joe Watkins had settled, away 
back in the "twenties." He was a very large man and 
you could always find him sitting on his front porch. He 
had a race track east of his house. 

The early settlers did not make prairie farms, but would 
build their houses in the edge of the timber and make a 
clearing. I well recollect when the open prairie ran from 
Rock Creek north to Oakford ; when hundreds of cattle 
ranged the open prairie; when a farm could be opened with- 
out grubbing. 

Concord, three miles north of Petersburg, was settled 
before 1830. Samuel Berry, James Pantier, Jack Clary, 
Reason Shipley, Jack Armstrong where the first to cast 
their lots in this locality. The Cumberland camp ground, 
to which the surrounding country would move bodily once 
a year for a week's outing, will be remembered. James 
Pantier was an eccentric character. He was a faith doctor 
and could cure snake bites and mad dog bites. m 

Another prominent citizen near Concord was James 
Short. He was the man that bid off Lincoln's surveying out- 
fit and then made Lincoln a present of it. Short's father 
was a Revolutionary soldier. East of Concord lived mv 
uncle, William Sampson, who came from Virginia. Lie 
had eight boys. Hannah Sampson, his wife, once killed 
a deer. She was making maple sugar and had heard the 
hounds for an hour on the track. She saw the deer coming 



History of Mexard County. 16 



j 



towards her and stepping behind a tree with an axe, as it 
ran passed she dealt it a heavy blow and killed it. 

Russell Godby lived farther north. He was of the old 
Virginia stock and a Jackson Democrat, and was always 
chosen chairman of Democratic meetings. 

A few miles east and we come to Sugar Grove, the 
home of Bill Engle. He was a great talker and trader. 
Bill never let any man get ahead of him. 

Charles Montgomery was an all-round man and could 
do most anything. My father once had the toothache for 
a week and there was no doctor nearer than Springfield. 
He took a hammer and a punch and set it against the tooth 
and told Charles to knock it out. Charles did not want 
to try it. but was persuaded to do so. Drawing back for 
a good lick he struck my father a hard blow on the chin. 
After he got over his fright he tried again and knocked the 
tooth out. 

Among the early settlers at Sugar Gr< >ve were the Alkire, 
Power, Propst and Meadows families. South of these. Jake 
Williams. John and }v\i Johnson, the Kincaids, Riggins, 
Rankins and Rodgers. These were pioneers of char- 
acter and integrity. Most of them have long since climbed 
the golden stairs, but their children are chips off the old 
block and have taken up the battle of life where their 
father^ laid it down. 

We now cross the river and come to "Wolf." Wolf is 
bounded on the north by Purkapile branch, on the east by 
the Sangamon river, on the south by Rock Creek, on ;he 
wesl by the road to Springfield. It was called Wolf as far 
back as I can recollect. 

The early settler- of Wolf were the Tibbs, Wisemans, 
Hornbuckles, Purkapiles and Kennedys. They made their 
farms in the barrens when as good prairie land as there is in 
the county was still vacant. 

One of the great yearly gathering- was the Rock Creek 



164 History of Menard County. 

campmeeting-. Elihu Bone was the largest camper. I have 
seen him feed 150 for dinner and go to the stand and an- 
nounce that he had plenty left. 

Two of the greatest men of that early day were Abra- 
ham Lincoln and Menter Graham. Lincoln came to Salem 
in 1 83 1. There he lived for seven years. He was like 
Moses, preparing himself for the great mission he was to 
fill in after years. My father kept the village hotel from 
1833 to 1835 and had Lincoln for a. boarder, during most 
of the time he lived in Salem. Lincoln followed surveying, 
kept grocery store and was postmaster. He succeeded 
Samuel Hill as postmaster. Hill kept whisky for sale and 
the women who went to the postomce complained that 
Hill would wait on his whisky customers first and keep 
them waiting for their mail; so they go up a petition to 
have Hill removed and Lincoln appointed in his place. 
Lincoln grew up among the rowdy class, but never acquired 
their vices, though Herendon's life of him would convey 
the impression that he was immoral and an infidel and a 
man of low tastes and habits. 

Menter Graham taught school within the bounds of 
Menard county for over fifty years and no doubt educated 
more men, who made their mark than any other; and so I 
think Lmcle Menter ought to occupy a high place in the 
hearts of the old settlers. There are other men that deserv~ 
mention, among them Billy Green, the grandfather of the 
present Green family, who settled on his farm in the 
"twenties," Hugh Armstrong and Ned Potter. Armstrong 
died before 1840, while Ned lived to be an old man. 

Levi Summers lived west of Salem. The central man 
in the community was old Tom Watkins. He lived in a 
large brick house and kept about a dozen race horses. The 
last time I saw him was when the Chicago & Alton rail- 
road was being built through west of his house. He was 
much excited. "The plagued railroad," said he, "is running 



History of Menard County. 165 

through my grove and cutting down all my young walnuts." 
His son, "Little Tom,' 7 as we used to call him, was a soldier 
in the Mexican war. 

From 1830 to 1840 Salem was in its glory. Samuel 
Hill's store was the place of gathering. On his front porch 
politics were discussed. Once a week Peter Cartright came 
to town. He was a politician then. He defeated Lincoln 
the first time for the legislature, in 1846. Lincoln beat him 
for Congress. 

One of the prominent settlers of Salem was Dr. John 
Allen. He came from the east in 1832. He was a prom- 
inent member of the Presbyterian Church. His first work 
was to form a temperance society and he found his worst 
opponents among church members, most of whom had their 
barrels of whisky at In 'inc. 

Another center of interest in Salem was the carding ma- 
chine, run by Hardin Bale. The motive power was a large 

wheel forty feet in diameter. It st 1 on an incline of 

twenty rive degrees and a couple of oxen on it could run all 
the machinery. Martin Waddle was the hatter; Roberl 
Johnson was the wheelright; Joshua Miller was the black- 
smith: Henry Onstot was the cooper; Alex Fergesson was 
the shoemaker. 



THE FOUNDERS OF PETERSBURG 

George Warberton and Peter Lukins were the original 
proprietors of Petersburg. George Warberton was an old 
bachelor, and was a man of tine attainments, and clerked 
for merchants in Salem and Petersburg, but was addicted 
to the drink habit, and a delerium tremens' life finally be- 
came a burden and one morning he was found drowned 
in the river near the mill. It was very low. a person could 
wade across it. and where he was drowned the water was 
not over three feet deep. He had walked out on a log and 



166 History of Menard County. 

fell face foremost and did not look as if he had ever moved. 
Warberton and Lukins had sold out to Jep Taylor a few 
years before the county seat had been located at Petersburg. 

Peter Lukins was a shoemaker, and like Warberton, was 
a dissipated man. He lived north of the Presbyterian 
Church, in a small frame house that was plastered on the 
outside, instead of weather boarding, and for several years 
did all the cobbling for the town. He, too, died by his own 
hand. 

An old toper, who lived west of Salem, by the name of 
Joe Fairfield, who got drunk every time he went to town, 
came along one evening and called me out to him. I was 
six years old, and he pulled out his bottle and said : "You 
have got to drink." My father saw him and forbade me. 
"I'll give you a whipping," said old Joe. I broke away 
from him and hid in an old dry kiln till he was out of sight. 
I never saw my father so angry ,and he told Fairfield never 
to offer one of his boys liquor" again. 



A TRIP TO PETERSBURG 

Tobe Kirby landed us safe in Petersburg Tuesday 
evening, December 20, 1899. Next morning we started out 
to renew old acquaintances, and went to the Observer office 
and with Mr. Parks spent a pleasant hour discussing men 
and measures, after which we went to the postofnce to 
see Tim Beekman, with whom we became acquainted years 
ago. Tim used to come to Forest City to buy cattle for 
the Menard county farmers, and he asked many questions 
about the men with whom he became acquainted twenty 
years ago. Some had died, others were still alive, but not 
selling cattle. Same old Tim, though a little more fleshy 
— (feeding out of the public crib had been some help to 
him). A trip to the court house to see Theo. Bennett, a 
schoolmate. He has been clerk since the winter of the deep 



History of Menard County. 167 

snow, and as a Democrat, never dies nor resigns. He 
will hold the office for years to come. The county officers 
have cause to feel proud of their new court house. All 
are accommodated with good rooms with all conveniences 
in modern style. Thanks to the good farmers who pay taxes. 
We called on Jasper Rutledge. the newly elected sheriff, 
another of our friends of pioneer years. Jasper referred 
to our article about Jim Berry's hands that gave the woman 
so much trouble at the campmeeting, and endorsed what 
we had written about them. If I were a citizen of Menard, 
a good comfortable office in the court house, with it guar- 
anteed for twenty years, would suit me first rale. 

We ran across Ed. Laning and he insisted on our 
going t" dinner with him at the Smoot Hotel. We had been 
too well raised to decline. Ed. was a saucy little lad when 
we first came to Petersburg in 1S40. but managed to keep 
up with the rest of us boy-,. Ed. referred to one of our 
letter- a few years ago, when we spoke of the fine residences 
around on the hills as belonging to lawyer-, and that we 
had said that the}- toil not. neither do they spin, yet Solomon 
in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Ed, 
said it was true. 

Next we made a \i-it to our old home. Sacrilegious 
hands had so nearly obliterated the original design that we 
hardly knew it. The old house had been moved back and a 
new front had been built. Mr-. Gibbs kindly showed us the 
old part, which still stand-, but the "old home ain't what it 
used t<> be." We met many old friends. 

We found the people eager for our writings. "1 low- 
long." asked one, "are you going to keep them up?" We 
told him that we were like Mary. Her mother had been 
chiding her about kissing John si 1 much. "Why. mother," 
said she. "it appears to do him so much good and it does 
not hurt me a bit." If we can make others happy and it 
don't discommode us any, why should we not contribute to 



1 68 History of Menard County. 

their happiness? Life is short at the farthest, and if we 
can strew flowers, instead of thorns, we should do so. 

We have been writing a history of Mason county the 
past year and expect at the close of 1900 to put it in book 
form, and will sandwich a few of the Menard letters in the 
publication. As Andy Johnson once said, "Look at Peoria," 
so I say look at Petersburg - . 

Petersburg, with all thv faults, I love thee still. 



IN MEMORIAM 

It is with a feeling of sadness that we heard of the 
death of that Christian hero, William J. Rutledge. He had 
lived an eventful life, but the battle is fought, the victory 
won and he is crowned at last. 

He had lived his four score years and was ac- 
quainted with the majority of the people in Central Illinois. 
He was of a tall commanding appearance. You were favor- 
ably impressed with him at first sight. He was the oldest 
member of the Illinois conference. He entered the itinerant 
ranks when very young on the west side of the Illinois river 
and, like Uncle Dick Haney, was a connecting link of the 
past with the present. 

He was styled the poetic preacher and could repeat the 
hymns of John and Charles Wesley to a finish. He was 
stationed at Havana in the "fifties" as presiding elder. His 
parentage dates back to old Virginia and three generations 
back to the Revolution. 

William J. Rutledge possessed all the characteristics of 
a pioneer preacher. In his early ministry he preached in the 
log cabins, swam rivers to get to his appointments and 
shared all the privations of the pioneer. He never read his 
sermons. He hadn't time to read them for the lightning of 
his eye went flashing along from pew to pew nor passed a 
sinner by. 



History of Mexard County. 169 

His conversational powers were greatly above the aver- 
age and it was a very unappreciative audience that he could 
not interest. As a chaplain in the late war he caught the 
dying messages of the expiring soldiers and transmitted 
them to their friends at home. He was one of Lincoln's 
most trusted friends and was often sent on an errand of 
great importance. Brave as a lion and gentle as a dove. 
He commanded the respect of friend and foe. 

It was related that at Vicksburg he went out to have 
his morning devotion, with his trusty rifle by his side, and 
hearing the brush make a noise, he saw a rebel about to get 
the drop on him, but Rutledge was to quick for him and laid 
him low and then went on and finished his prayer. His 
whole life was full of thrilling incidents. 

I don't recollect of ever meeting a more sweet spirited 
man than William J. Rutledge. a more devout Christian 
or a better citizen than he was. But he is gone from earth 
and its toils and cares. And when the roll is called ii]> yon- 
der no purer or brighter spirit than William J. Rutledge will 
answer the call. 





CHAPTER XVI. 
HISTORY OF PETERSBURG SIXTY YEARS AGO 

N 1840 we moved to Petersburg, and were the 
first to leave Salem. In that year more than 
one-half of the residents of Salem moved to 
Petersburg, where the county seat had been 
located. John Taylor had secured possession of the land, 
and the price of a lot now would have purchased then the 
best eighty acres in Menard county. My father bought two 
lots in the branch on the east of Bale's carding machine. 
The branch ran through the center of the lots, taking at 
least one-third of the ground. Petersburg was then the 
only town between Havana and Springfield. The first point 
of interest as you entered the town from the south was the 
steam mill, which was built somewhere in the "thirties." 
The engine was a large one, and was taken from the 
steamer. Talisman. Its cough could be heard for a mile. 
It operated a sawmill and two pair of buhrs. The first 
saw was an up and down pattern. If a man wanted to 
build in the spring he would have to get his logs to the 
mill the winter before. A couple of yoke of oxen and a 
bob-sled was the means of hauling them. By spring several 
hundred logs would cover the ground in the vicinity of the 
mill. The miller kept several yoke of oxen to draw the 
logs up where they could be loaded on the carriage. He 
also kept a large cart to haul logs with when there was no 
snow on the ground. I think the. wheels were ten feet in 
diameter. The cart would straddle over a log, the log swung 



History of Menard County. 171 

under the cart near the middle, so that it would not bear 
much on the ground. The logs would be sawed by spring 
and the lumber hauled out by the owner and stacked up to 
dry. It would be nearly a year after the tree was cut be- 
fore the lumber was ready for the carpenter. It cost three 
times as much then to build a house as now, where all the 
material you use is ready to be put together. The corner 
posts of a house in early times was 8x8s. and it would take 
a carpenter a day to make one. 

The grist mill was in an ell south of the sawmill. It 
would now be considered a rough affair. For Hour there 
was a pair of French buhrs, with a rude bolting machine. 
The flour came out in a long box, 10 or 12 feet long, and 
when the grist was ground the miller, with his paddle, would 
cut off one-third. This was fine flour, the next third coarse 
and the last was the shorts, which was used to make pan- 
cakes. \i we had been good children through the week, we 
would have biscuits for Sunday, with some peach preserve; 
or if company came at any time during the week we might 
have some biscuits, but the corn bread dispensation had not 
then expired. When I mention corn bread 1 mean corn 
dodgers, and as I told you in a former article what corn 
dodgers were 1 will not repeat it. 

The mill stood one hundred yards south of the elevator, 
and there were no houses south of the mill. We will now 
skip over to Maui Street, and commence with Chester Moon, 
who lived on to]) of the hill on the west side of the street. 
Mo, mi was a saloonkeeper and a great hunter. Many a 
large, fat buck graced his table. I recollect we once played 
a joke on Moon. Some the boys had a jumper-sled one 
winter that had a seat dressed with deer skin, with a large 
pair of horns. South of his house was a large hazel thicket: 
we located the dummy deer there so that its head and neck- 
showed plainly. Moon got up the next morning and soon 
discovered the deer; he ran for his rifle and shot once, twice 



172 History of Menard County. 

and thrice without scaring- the deer; he then made a closer 
examination and found that he had been fooled. 

A little farther north was where Chas. Brooks lived ; 
he was a tailor. He had a large family. Brooks died some 
thirty years ago, while Mrs. Brooks lived many years after. 

Across the street on the east lived A. D. Wright. He 
was a man of some prominence. He had been a merchant, 
but at the time I write he was county judge. He was a very 
popular and affable man. He always went by the name of 
A. D., though I never knew what A. D. stood for. His 
wife was a daughter of John Cabanis, of Springfield. Old 
man Cabanis was a strong Whig, while Wright and Hiccox, 
his son-in-laws, were Democrats. Somebody asked him 
why it was that he. being a Whig, had such strong Demo- 
crats for son-in-laws? Cabanis replied that God Almighty 
gave him his daughters, but the devil gave him his son-in- 
laws. 

The next house north of Wright's was Hurd's. He was 
a Fuller by trade, and had come to Petersburg to work for 
Hardin Bale. No sooner had he moved in town than I. 
who was a Whig politician, interviewed his son, Jewett, as 
to his political proclivities. He was non-committal. Not 
knowing my sentiments he remarked that "Our family don't 
take sides." 

Across the street was Bale's carding machine, which was 
the busiest place in town. It was a large two-story build- 
ing and I think it fronted on Main street 150 feet. Every 
person kept sheep. Store clothes had not then come into 
fashion. The sheep would be sheared by the first of June, 
and the wool taken to the carding machine. Bale would take 
toll out of the wool, or they would pay cash for the carding. 
The wool would be brought tied up in sheets or blankets, 
with a gallon of grease for every ten pounds of wool. I 
ran Bale's picker for a year or so. The picker took out the 
dirt and burrs. Bale kept adding on machinery till he had 



History of Mexard County. 173 

quite a factory. He carded the wool. spun, wove it, filled it 
and colored it; then run it through his shearer and took 
the knap off of it ; by that time a good article of broad- 
cloth was made. In the meantime. Bale's factory had grown 
to such dimensions that a steam engine was added 
and a pair of French buhrs. and Samuel Hill also 
became a partner. A large business was done, but mis- 
fortune came to Hardin Bale. His large factory was con- 
sumed by tire with not much insurance. He then moved 
up to the mouth of the branch, near the old South Valley 
coal shaft. Not prospering here as he did at first he started 
for Pike's Peak, with machinery to work for gold, but be- 
fore he got there he met hundreds of teams returning. He 
turned back and as he was crossing the river at Beardstown 
hi> machinery was sunk in the river. 

West of Bale's place on the side of the hill lived John 
Bennett. He was one of Petersburg's early merchants. He 
had come from Virginia, and was one <>\ the F. P. V. John 
Bennett once represented Menard count)' in the legislature 
and al^o tilled other offices, lie invited the legislature once 
to his house. I helped to make the ice cream for that 
honorable body. John Bennett was a good citizen and 
neighbor, lie had three boys. Tom. Dick and Harry. They 
were my schoolmates and were good boys. Dick was tram- 
pled to death by a horse. Tom died 20 years ago. Harry 
kept a drug store in Easton, but died many years ago; so 
the family of John Bennett are all gone. 

Just west of John Bennett lived lames Carter. lie was a 
cabinetmaker. In those days there was plenty of <^>, u\ 
timber in the county, such as the finest walnut trees, lynn. 
birch, birdseye maple and cherry, large enough for table 
leaves. I have seen cherry planks three feet wide, and white 
walnut was a very tine finishing lumber. 

In the south part of town on the street leading towards 
the river in the early "thirties." lived James Taylor, a -on 



1/4 History of Menard County. 

of John Taylor. I don't think he followed any particular 
business ; he appeared to be a gentleman of means. He 
lived there several years, and then moved back to Spring- 
field. He was a lover of fine horses, and generally kept 
a number of fine rigs. He could be seen when the sleighing 
was good with a load of school children taking them to 
school or bringing them home. James Taylor lived in style 
and was a gentleman of leisure. He also extended his 
courtesies to married women by taking them driving, a 
custom which we think has gone out of date. 

Among the early inhabitants of the south end of town 
were two brothers, George and Isam Davidson. George 
died in Mason City a few years ago, while Isam moved to 
Lewistown in 1841. They kept store in Petersburg in 1840. 
Isam had two sons who made their mark in the newspaper 
world in after years. James Davidson, the eldest, was, I 
think, the homliest mortal I ever saw. His mouth was on the 
side of his face and he was "real-footed" in both feet. He 
was droll in his manners, but a splendid writer and an able 
editor. After spending a quarter of a century in Lewis 
town, he moved to Carthage and published the Carthage 
Republican till the day of his death. William Davidson still 
lives in Lewistown and is proprietor of the Fulton Democrat, 
a fearless and independent Democratic newspaper. 

The Colby Brothers, wagonmakers, lived over the 
branch, just west of the C. P. & St. L. railroad. They 
came in an early day. Near by was the blacksmith shop of 
Martin Morris, one of the best smiths who ever hammered 
iron. He was a fine worker on edge tools. After he quit 
the shop Robert Bishop used it for a gunsmith shop. Bishop 
made rifles form the raw material and stocked them. 

On the branch lived Henry Onstot, whose dwelling was 
on the south side of the branch, and whose shop was on the 
north side. He often worked as many as four men and the 
surplus work of his shop was hauled to Springfield or 
Beardstown. 



History of Mexard County. 175 

Tohn Taylor had a packing house in Petersburg for 
several years, and used many barrels for lard and hogs- 
heads for shipping bacon. 

Now we come to the business block of the town. Just 
north of Joseph Pillsbury's and fronting on Main Street 
is where all the stores of the village were located. For a 
number of years all the stories in town were in this block. 
On the south corner was the store of John Taylor, which 
was the largest in town. The main salesman in this store 
for many years was his nephew, James Taylor, and cousin 
to James Taylor, spoken of in the first part of this article. 
I [e was a tall, good-looking man. who was afterwards elected 
sheriff of Menard county, but did not live long. Tay- 
lor's store was well stocked with the kind of goods used 
in those times. Taylor would go to St. Louis twice a year, 
in the fall and spring. After he had been a week a number 
of horse and ox wagons would load up at Petersburg with 
bacon, lard, butter, beeswax and whatever produce had been 
taken in and go to Beardsfc >wn, where is w< >uld be shipped to 
St. Louis. By that time the goods would arrive at Beards- 
town and would be brought back to Petersburg. It would 
take four days to make the trip. This was before the days 
of railroads and the present generation lias but little idea 
of the difficulties their fathers had to endure. Taylor's store 
was heated by a large fireplace that would take in four feet 
of wood. They would buy hickory wood, ten feet long, and 
James Taylor would spend his spare time in cutting it. 
I think Taylor had the largest trade in the town. 

The next room on the north was kept by a number of 
ms. The first persons whom I recollect were the 
Davidson Bros., George and Isam, though they vacated it 
111 [840. George was very careless in his dress and man- 
ners, while I. G., as Isam was familiarly called, was the 
opposite. I. ( i. kept his boots so black and slick that a fly 
couldn't light on them and stay there. One day his son. 



176 History of Menard County. 

James, had been into some mischief, and his father got after 
him with a whip, and the lad ran, jumped out into a mud- 
puddle in front of the store, where he dared his father to 
come after him. His father did not venture into the mud. 

The next building on the north was occupied by Sep- 
timus Levering, when first built as a store room. He moved 
to Springfield about the time the county seat was located 
at PetersDurg, and the building was then used for a court 
house for several years and became a historic character. 
The old settlers of Menard will recollect the legal battles 
that were fought under its roof. There were Abraham Lin- 
coln, John T. Stewart, Ben. Edwards, E. D. Baker, Murray 
McConnell, Stephen A. Douglas, and a number of other in- 
tellectual giants who attended court in those early days — 
men who had won their spurs in many a legal encounter. 
We asked Robert T. Lincoln in his office a few years ago 
why such able lawyers did not practice in the circuit. 
courts now, and he said the reason was that corporations 
and railroads retained all the able lawyers for their own 
use. Bob at that time was attorney for the Wabash rail- 
road at a salary of $20,000 a year. The house was small 
— about 20x40, with a railing that cut off the west end for 
the judge and the lawyers, leaving the east part of the 
house for the audience. This house served the county till 
the court house was ready in 1844. Court would open up 
Monday afternoon, after the lawyers would get in from 
Springfield, and would be ready to adjourn by Friday. The 
old court house was used for religious meetings. Revs. J. 
M. Berry, John G. White, George Barrett and numerous 
other ministers preached there. Political meetings were 
also held in the building. It was the only place in town 
to hold public gatherings until the little Presbyterian Church 
was built, which still stands north of Rule's livery barn. 
Yes. the qld court house has a history. 

The next buildine north of the court house was occu- 



History of Mexard County. 177 

pied by Miles & McCoy. Miles moved to Petersburg at 
an early day. His family occupied the house in the south 
part of the town, afterwards occupied by Hardin Bale. He 
only had three children. James. Elizabeth and Ann, who 
became the wife of William Herendon. Lincoln's law 
partner, McCoy, was a brother of Miles' wife. They came 
from near Springfield and kept a good stock of goods and 
had an excellent trade. I went to school with Miles' 
children. After going out of the merchandise business, 
Miles lived in Petersburg till his death. McCoy went back 
to where he came from. 

One door north was a saloon kept by a man named 
Adams, which did not have a very good reputation. Many 
scenes of disorder and lawlessness were enacted there. For 
a good while this was the only saloon in town, and as 
liquor was sold in most of the stores at twenty-five cents a 
gallon and was carried home and drank there, people did 
not like to pay ten cents a drink for it, yet on public days 
iloon was liberally patronized. Men would get drunk 
and raise a fuss under the slightest pretext, and fight and 
brawl with their neighbor-. 

In the north corner of the block James and William 
Hoey, two Irishmen from the ould sod of Ireland. For 
years kept store. They were both bachelors, and kept their 
stock of goods in the front part of the house. The two 
w ere as different as br< »thers c< >uld be. William was a get-up 
and dtist fellow, and was the business man of the firm. He 
was rather rough in his manner, while his brother, James, 
was a refined gentleman. James was the "best man" at 
the wedding of Tarleton Lloyd and Catherine Keltner at 
Salem, spoken of in a former letter. The Hoeys had for 
a housekeeper a large, fat Irish maid, who went by the 
name of Becky Hoey. She done their cooking, washing and 
other work. 

Across the street opposite Hoeys lived Dr. Richard Ben- 
nett, a brother of lohn Bennett. The Bennetts had com.' 



1 7 8 



History of Menard County. 



from Virginia before 1840. Dr. Bennett kept a hotel for 
many years, and practiced medicine in the early days. He 
raised quite a family. His eldest son was named Sandy. 
He died in the early days, while Theodore still survives and 
has held the office of circuit clerk for the past twenty-four 
years. Dr. Bennett occupied a prominent place in the 
community for twenty years. 

In the same block was a two-story house, where Chester 
Moon kept a saloon, and Rial Clary succeeded him. 




CHAPTER XVII. 



EARLY TIMES IN THE CAPITAL OF MENARD 




HILE Salem was settled mostly by Kentuckians, 
Petersburg had a mixed population from all 
the states, though the Hoeys were the only 
ones from the old country, except John Warn- 
sing, who \va^ from Germany, lie lived with the Tayl 
and was the only German in the county, with the exception 
of Peter Brahm, who lived north of Petersburg, near Con- 
cord. He had three children — Thomas, Nancy and John 
A. Brahm, so well known in Petersburg in after years. 
I forgot to mention Jacob Laning, who lived in the south 
part of Petersburg, lie was a tailor by trade, and run a 
op. Tailors made all the clothing then. Charlie Brooks 
and Jacob Laning had all the work they could do. No 
merchant kept clothing then as now, but kept an assort- 
ment of broadcloths and other woolen goods. I have seen 
overcoats made out of red and white woolen blankets, but 
the most of the clothing was made out of Fuller's cloth, 
which was flannel heat up till thirty yards was heat into 
twenty yards, and then colored as the owner's taste might 
suggest. The every day clothing was made of Kentucky 
jeans at home by the good housewife. Dudley McAtee 
was a journeyman tailor who worked for Brooks & Laning. 
He \\a^ afterward^ elected sheriff of Menard county, and 
married Martha ( roodman. 

On the corner north of where the Baptist Church now 
-lands lived Nathan Dresser, who was the first circuit clerk. 



180 History of Menard County. 

He was from old Virginia, and his wife was a sister of 
John Bennett. Dresser was a finely educated man and a 
gentleman in any crowd. He had no children. His brother, 
Henry Dresser, built the court house. Another brother, 
Charles Dresser, of Springfield, was an Episcopal preacher, 
and often preached in Petersburg. I well recollect the re- 
sponsive reading at his meetings : "As it was from the be- 
ginning and is now and evermore shall be, amen and 
amen." * * * 

John McNeal lived across the street from Dresser. He 
was a prominent member of the M. E, Church and was 
also a tailor. He came from Virginia. His neighbors 
did not like him because he was so cruel to a bound boy 
he had, by the name of William Davidson. On the slightest 
pretext he would beat the boy, and his neighbors finally took 
the boy's part and gave McNeal to understand that the boy 
should have better treatment. He had come from a slave 
state, and had been used to negroes. McNeal's residence 
was in the south corner of the block, while Hill's store 
was in the north corner, and still survives the wreck of 
time and stands today as it did sixty-five years ago, though 
it now would be considered a small, unpretentious building. 
It was, when built, a large and roomy house that Hill had 
moved down from Salem in the spring of 1840. He had 
been a mercantile king in Salem, and generally had things 
his own way. His house was the first store on the public 
square, and with the commencement of the building of the 
court house all the business houses of the town began to 
cluster around that building. Hill lived in the south part 
of his building, and used the upper part for his residence. 
Here he accumulated a fortune. He assisted Hardin Bale 
in his manufactory of cloths and added a flouring mill to 
the machinery. Samuel Hill only had one child, John, who 
died in Georgia a few years ago, while his wife, whose 
maiden name was Parthena Nance, died a year later. She 



History of Menard County. iSi 

-was married to Hill in 1837. and was a noble woman. She 
will long be remembered for her good works. 

The first brick stores built on the square was a double 
building about the middle of the block. The south room 
was built by John Bennett and the north room by John 
Warnsing. Bennett's was occupied by Wm. Cowgill and 
Warnsing's by Tilton McNeely, father of Thompson W. 
McNeely, -till a resident of the 'Burg. These two stores, 
with Hill's, did most of the business of the country at 
that time, though their goods would be considered incom- 
plete at this day. 

The next prominent house on the square was Bennett'-. 
Hotel, which was on the east side, in the middle of the 
block. It was built in [844 ; as before mentioned it took 
about a year to get the lumber ready for the house. Ben- 
nett commenced in [843; had his finishing lumber sawed at 
Shirley's mill on Rock Creek, near the Sangamon river. 
The lumber was built up in a dry kiln, and a fire kept up day 
and night for several week-. The lumber was mostly white 
walnut, which comes the nearest to pine of any of our native 
timber-. For his flooring he had white and red oak; for 
siding black walnut. Bennett had nearly ten thousand feet 
of lumber in the dry kiln, and they had kept up the fire 
in the kiln for nearly four weeks, when one morning. Eng- 
lish John, who had charge of it. stirred Up the lire and added 
new fuel, when a spark got into the fuzzy lumber and in an 
instant the lumber vent up in smoke. As the kiln was near 
my father's cooper shop I was at the tire. The loss to 
Bennett was great, but nothing daunted him and he went to 
work and built the hotel the next season. The old Menard 
House still stand- as a monument to the energy of John 
Bennett. It was here at the stable that his son, Dick, was 
trampled to death while attending to the horses. It was 
at this hotel that Bennett's wife died. She was a sister 
of Alex and Phil Rainey. She was a good woman, as 



1 82 History of Menard County. 

hundreds of her neighbors and acquaintances can testify- 
Besides Dr. Bennett, John had another brother, Wm. Ben- 
nett, who was a bachelor and was engaged in making brick. 
He had been in business and failed, and finally moved to 
Texas, the last I heard of him. 

John B. Gum was then a young man, and was county 
surveyor. He built a two-story house on the northeast 
corner of the public square, and for many years was an 
influential man in the county. He had a large tract of land 
in Mason county, near Kilbourne, and died a few years ago 
at Havana. So one by one the old landmarks of Menard 
are removed by death. 

Down southeast of the square lived Dr. Regnier. He 
moved to town from Clary's Grove. He was a very witty 
and eccentric man ; had a large family of girls and one boy. 
He was a fleshy man, rather above the average size, and his 
wit was always available. One time his horse ran away with 
his sulky. The doctor threw out his leg against a sapling 
to stop the horse, and as a consequence his leg was broken. 
Y\ nen the leg was being set the doctor kept an uproar of 
laughter by his witty remarks. Dr. Regnier lived and died 
at his home on the banks of the Sangamon. He had a 
large share of the county practice. A cabinetmaker by 
the name of Wm. Humphrey lived neighbor to Regnier at 
that time, and James G. Davis occupied the two-story house 
north of the doctor's premises. The town at this time be- 
gan to build up, and around the public square business 
houses began to loom up on all sides. 

The contract for the court house was let in 1842. No 
pine was used as finishing lumber. The stone for the 
foundation was furnished by Isaac Cogdal and was brought 
from Rock Creek. He had a number of ox teams and there 
was probably one hundred loads used. The brick was made 
in the north part of town by Charles Goodman and Bill 
Bennett. It took two vears to finish the structure, and it 



History of Mexard County. 183 

was considered a fine building at the time it was built, but 
it outlived its usefulness and for many years before the 
present beautiful structure was built was an eyesore to the 
people. 

Another two-story building was set on the southeast 
corner of the square. It was the old Park House, used by 
John Taylor in 1842. Before that date Chester Moon and 
Rial Clary had kept saloon in it. It was moved down and 
fitted up for a store room, and Elijah Taylor used it for a 
number of years. 

West of the court house, back of Alain Street, lived 
Alex Trent. He was a carpenter by trade, but did noi 
work much at his trade. He had a large business. One of 
his sous was a tailor. His name was Anderson. He went 
to the Mexican war. and was killed at the battle of Cerro 
Gordo, lie was a line looking man. of a good character 
and was well respected by all who knew him. The next 
son was Ashby, who was more on the rowdy order; was a 
very strong and athletic fellow, and could whip his weight 
in wildcats, but his manner of life told on him and he 
died at an early day. Hugh and Wemps Trent were the 
other two boys. His girls were Nancy and Bell. The 
latter married Robert Moore, but got a divorce and then 
married W'm. Webb, and is yet living. Alex Trent used to 
be a witness on both sides of every case, lie would have 
a talk with one side and then tell the other side what he 
heard, SO both side would have him subpoenaed. 

Where the Methodist parsonage now stands lived Abra- 
ham Goodpasture, a Cumberland preacher. He came from 
Tennessee, and married Duleena Williams. He bought 
eighty acres of land in the bottoms, where the railroad 
bridge crosses the river. I worked two years for him and 
he always aimed to get the worth of his money out of me. 
Great crops of corn were raised in the bottom land, though 
it overflowed every spring. I think the water in 1844 was 



184 History of Menard County. 

six feet deep all over the land, and no crop was raised that 
year. A man could start at coal branch and go up through 
Goodpasture's land; then run through Bennett Abie's farm, 
and land near Bowling Green's house. All the rails would 
be carried clown and landed in the drifts across the river 
from Petersburg. It seems as though the river used to get 
higher in early days than at present. 



PETERSBURG IN THE FORTIES 

Up the hill west of the square a little south of the street 
was the little school house where C. B. Waldo taught the 
first school. It was a house about twenty-four feet square, 
and was reached by a circuitous route among the hazel 
brush. Here some of the most brilliant minds of Peters- 
burg were educated. I call to mind the Brooks family, 
the Lanings, the Miles, the Trents, the Greens, the Elmores, 
the Bales, the Bennetts, the Davidsons, the Wrights, the 
Hurds, and many others who laid the foundations of their 
future greatness here. It was a mixed school that Waldo 
taught. He had the primary class, the intermediate and 
Latin pupils. There was no free money to carry on the 
schools then. The patrons of the school would sign for a 
certain number of pupils for sixty days at $3 each, then 
they would send all their children and the number of days 
would be divided by sixty and the amount apportioned ac- 
cordingly. There was no elaborate furniture in the old 
school house. On the south side there was a writing desk 
that extended across the end of the house, and benches 
around the house for the larger pupils and benches in the 
middle for the smaller ones. Waldo was supreme ruler of 
the school. He was a good-natured man and had but littie 



History of Menard County. 185 

difficulty in controlling the school. If a pupil was very bad 
and would not be reproved after a sufficient length of time 
he would be dismissed. I dont' recollect but one pupil who 
was sent home. After a few weeks, if the pupil would 
promise to do better, he would be re-instated. Waldo's 
school had an average of fifty pupils, and he would teach 
eight months a year. He finally moved to Mason county 
and from there went south where he died forty years ago. 

North of the public square commenced to build up with 
the erection of the court house. The large brick house 
east of the Smoot Hotel was built by G. U. Miles, and 
was at that time considered the best house in town. The 
little one-story board house next to the depot was built 
by James Miles. Edward Elam built a blacksmith shop 
one block north of the court house. This was a place of 
some importance. After he moved away his son, W. P. 
Elam, carried on the business. He lived west of the house 
on the street that ran up Tan Yard Hollow. 

John Bennett built the first tan yard. It was just north 
of where the Christian Church now stands. There was 
about a dozen vats. They were ten feet square and ten 
feet deep. The hides were put in, then the bark was ground 
line and a layer of bark on the hides, then another layer of 
hides, and so on. till the vat was full. The vats would be 
tilled in the fall, and would be tanned in a year and then 
taken to a shoemaker. 

AYest of Bennett's tan yard, there was another yard 
belonging to James Anno and his brother, Tallard. They 
were young men and had just cine from Kentucky. They 
afterwards bought out Bennett and run both yards. 

Tan hark was ground in a very crude way. A wooden 
wheel ten feet in diameter and two feet broad, with a shaft 
through the center, was set perpendicular and the bark laid 
in a circular form. A horse was hitched to one end of the 
shaft, and a boy for a driver, the wheel would roll around 



1 86 History of Menard County. 

over the bark until it was ground fine. The outside of the 
wheel was filled with cogs that ground the bark. The hides 
were tanned in coal ooze. 

The road up Tan Yard Hollow was a gradual incline, 
and was the best road that came to town from the west. 
All the other roads came down a steep hill. 

Dr. Allen came to Menard county as early as 1834, and 
settled in Salem, where he lived six years. He was not a 
strong man physically, but did more to make the character 
of the people than any living man. He moved to Peters- 
burg in 1840, and moved clown the house in which he lived. 
It was situated north of where the Christian Church stands. 
The doctor was an active worker in the Presbyterian Chruch. 
He had hardly pitched his tent in Salem when there was 
preaching at his house, and he had not lived in Petersburg 
but a few years when he had a Presbyterian Church erected. 
It was a small frame house and is now used by S. B. 
Bryant as a paint shop, north of Rule's livery stable. This 
was the only church building in town until' the Methodist 
Church was built on the spot where the new church now 
stands. Dr. Allen did not live in his many years, but built 
the large brick residence on the hill on the site where stands 
Hon. N. W. Branson's residence. The house was large 
and commodious and was always open to his friends. Dr. 
Allen had the largest practice of all the doctors and was a 
good collector. In the winter he would take dressed hogs 
on his bills and would get two or three hundred hogs at 
$1.50 to $2 per hundred weight. He would' barrel up 
the lard and make bacon of the hogs, and by spring would 
have one thousand dollars worth of provisions to take to 
St. Louis, hauling it to Beardstown and by steamboat to 
St. Louis. By this way he would collect most of his bills. 
He doctored in the old style with calomil. If he had a bad 
case the patient was most always salivated. 

The old-fashioned way of medical practice would now 



History of Mexard County. 187 

seem very cruel and the practitioner would be liable to be 
indicted for cruelty to animals. Doctor Allen's first wife 
was Margaret Moore, and his second wife was a Chand- 
ler. I think Dr. Allen died somewhere near i860. 

Peter Lukins was one of the first settlers of Petersburg. 
He was a shoemaker. His dwelling was west of the court 
house. I remember it because it was plastered outside, and 
I think the only house of that kind in the 'Burg. Lukins 
was addicted to drink, and was subject to attacks of delirium 
tremens. He had a brother Jesse who went to the Mexican 
war and was killed. Gregory Lukins. his brother, married 
his widow, and died in Sugar Grove about fifteen years ago. 
Peter Lukins committed suicide while on a drunken spree. 

From 1840 to 1845 the north part of Petersburg began 
to grow in the extreme north, where Dr. Antle lived. 
John Wright moved here in 1842. He had a contract to 
build the first bridge across the river, and moved from 
Sugar Grove for that purpose. The bridge was a very 
clumsy affair. Mudsills were sunk in the earth of a large 
dimension and then bents with four po^ts, twelve inches 
square, with a cap on top twelve inches square, were placed, 
then stringers lengthwise and a floor of two-inch plank, with 
heavy railing, completed the first bridge across the Sanga- 
mon river, north of Springfield. This bridge settled the 
navigation of the river, as no steamboat could go under 
the bridge. After John Wright completed the bridge he 
still remained in Petersburg and was a good, influential 
citizen. I think Tilton McNeely married one of Wright's 
/laughters. 

Win. Cowgill was one of the merchants from 1843. He 
occupied a double store house on the west side of the square, 
owned by John Bennett, while McNeely occupied the build- 
ing owned by John Warnsing. On the south end of 
Cowgill's store was a ball alley, in which games were played 
all through the summer months. I believe the game has 



i88 History of Menard County. 

gone out of date. It was a very exciting game and full of 
exercise. Two or four persons could play the game. 

Charles Goodman made brick on the branch in the 
north part of town for many years. Win. Bennett was his 
partner. They furnished brick for the court house and all 
the other brick buildings in Petersburg. Goodman furnished 
the brick for Russell Godby's house, near New Market, 
going over there and making the brick on the place. 

In an early day Thomas L. Harris came to Petersburg. 
He was a slender built man, and was reading law. Harris' 
ability was soon recognized, as he was no ordinary man, 
but poor and had a hard struggle to make enough to pay 
his board. I have seen him go out and work in the hay 
field to get money to pay his board. He had another thing 
to contend with. He was a Democrat, while most of the 
leading men at that time were Whigs, who were disposed 
to boycott him on account of his politics. He went to the 
Mexican war, was a brave soldier and was made a major, 
and after he came home he was elected to Congress, but as 
he had contracted disease while in the army, he died while a 
member of Congress. A man of spotless character, and as 
popular a man as ever lived in Petersburg. The old set- 
tlers delight to talk of Thomas L. Harris. 

Joseph Pearson lived north of the Presbyterian church. 
He had a yoke of oxen and a cart, and hauled cord wood 
to town for a living, and at times done hauling of various 
kinds. 

Daniel Staton was an all around man, and was useful as 
well as ornamental. He done the hog killing for the neigh- 
bors, and here let me remark that hog and hominy were the 
chief articles of diet in early days. I think the people used 
five pounds of pork then, where they now use a pound. 
It was before the days of meat shops and nearly every per- 
son had a few hosfs. 



History of Mexard County. 189 



OLD FASHIONED BARBECUES 

Away back in the "forties" it was customary once a 
year to celebrate the Fourth of July. We did not then have 
as many important clays as now. The Constitution and the 
immortal Declaration of Independence meant something 
then. There has been so many startling events since that 
I fear we have forgotten the truths that our fathers taught 
us. but our Government was founded with a Declaration 
of Sovereign Rights, and God grant that we may never 
fi trget the grand lives found in these important Magna 
Chartas. And the people met once a year to talk over the 
heroic deeds of their fathers, to sing patriotic songs and to 
have a good time. Generally several weeks before the Fourth 
of July a subscription would be started. One person 
would contribute a two year-old heifer, another a fine shoat 
and some turkeys, one person a few loaves of bread, some 
a do/en pie- and so it would go till a dozen beeves and a 
do/en shoat > and everything else would swell the eatables 
so that the multitude could be easily i^*\. 

Then a number 1 if men to cook the meat would be named. 
1 recollect that Jim Clemens, who lived near George- Spears, 
was generally commander-in-chief. Long trenches. aboHt 
three feet wide and two feet dee]), would be dug. in which. 
fires would be placed the day before and on the morning 
of the Fourth would be nearly red hot. The beef would 
be put over the fire, hanging on long iron rods in quarters. 
The pigs would be fixed the same way and the cooking would 
begin. General Clemen> would give order- to hi- subordi- 
nates to turn the beef and pork every five minutes and a large 
jar of melted butter was on hand, well melted, and each 
cook had a swab with, which he could baste the meat while 
it was cooking. The farmers' wives would arrive with 
their share of the bread and pies and cakes and a number 
of tables owuld be arranged to accommodate the crowd. 



190 History of Menard County. 

About 1 p. m. everything would be ready. The seats 
were properly distributed and the citizens from all over the 
country had begun to arrive. The marshalls, with their 
red sashes, were galloping around town with all the style 
of warriors. Andy Moor, of Indian Point, was a military 
man. With his old dilapidated silk hat, with a red plume 
about eighteen inches high, marshaled the marshals with 
as much dignity as a Roman general and would land the 
delegation at the speaker's stand, where some Springfield 
orator would deliver an oration. It was sometimes the 
silver tongued E. D. Baker, and sometimes the lamented 
Thomas L. Harris. Before the oration the Declaration of 
Independence was read. 

This was an important part of the program, because the 
reader was to read it loud and clear, so all could hear it, 
as he read : 

"All Governments derive their consent from the gov- 
erned,' or "All men are entitled to life, liberty and the pur- 
suit of happiness." These immortal truths were believed 
in and was the base on which the structure was built. 

At the dinner, which was always conducted in good 
order, some old venerable divine invoked the blessing on 
the repast. The orations gave the orator some standing in 
the community. 

I recollect once in 1842 attending a celebration in Clary's 
Grove, in Robert Conover's pasture, which was equal to any 
held in Petersburg. Being in a good settlement the farmers 
contributed liberally to the dinner. After it was over toasts 
were in order, one of which I well recollect, as follows : 

Should British Lion ever roam, 

Beyond his beaten track; 

The American Eagle, with beak of steel, 

Will pounce upon his back, 

Pick out his eyes and cry: " 'Tis fun ! " 

In those early davs there were two old soldiers, who had 



History of Mexard County. 191 

fought for their country. One was Daddy Roger, who 
lived in Wolf, and the other was the father of James 
Short, who lived north of Petersburg. These old persons 
were always at the barbecue and were accorded a seat of 
honor on the speaker's stand and at the tables. 

Barbecues have had their day. They belong to the old 
dispensation. They were a kin to campmeetings and regi- 
mental musters. After dinner was over then many of the 
men got drunk or engaged in running or jumping or feats 
of strength. There was a cannon out of the shaft of the 
Talisman that was six inches thick and five feet long, with 
a two inch bore that weighed live hundred pounds. This 
tested a man's strength to shoulder it. and very few could 
do it. I have seen Conover ( mm and some of the Bond 
boys nearly strained their gizzards out in trying to shoulder 
it. 

It was the custom of the country hoys, before they went 
home, to ero in swimmingf. They always rode their three- 
year-old colts. They always found water below the water 
works to swim their horses and so the time was taken up 
at the barbecue till sundown and all then departed for home 
with the satisfaction of pulling the tail of the eagle and 
helping to make him scream. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



RECOLLECTIONS OF PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS 




TIPPECANOE AND TYLER TOO. 

HE FIRST presidential campaign I remember 
was that of 1840. when Harrison was sung 
into the presidential chair. The questions at 
issue I do not remember, except that Harrison 
lived in a log cabin, drank hard cider and sold coon skins. 
There were great gatherings that year. The excitement 
was at fever heat and even the little cubs were singing the 
praises of hard cider. If a person moved into the com- 
munity it was necessary to know his politics in order to 
determine his standing. 

A number of big meetings were held in Springfield and 
Jacksonville that year. Bands of singers would attend and 
make the welkin ring with their campaign songs, of which 
the following is a specimen : 

Come all ye brave lads of old forty 
Who rallied around Tippecanoe; 
Come give us your hearts and your voices 
For great Harry, the noble and true. 

The Whigs carried the day, but Harrison died soon after 
being elected and John Tyler succeeded him in the presi- 
dential chair. No Vice-President that ever took the chair 
ever gave satisfaction to the party that elected him and 
Tyler was no exception. Millard Fillmore turned against 
his party and the Republicans would have crucified Andy 
Johnson if they had dared. 



History of Menard County. 195 



POLK AXD TAXES. 

Nothing of much interest occurred from 1840 till 1844. 
when the slave power needed more territory for the expan- 
sion of slavery. "Polk and Texas !" was the cry and singing 
didn't count. The country was ready for the annexation of 
Texas. Texas was then an independent province that for- 
merly belonged to [Mexico, but had gained independence, 
with the Rio Grande for its western boundary and had 
never claimed territory further west. 

"Polk and Texas" were triumphant, and the slave 
power, flushed with success, sent an army two hundred 
mile- west of the Rio Grande, on Mexican soil, and pro- 
voked a battle and published to the world that American 
blond had been shed on American soil. The Whigs, while 
denying this, supported the war. as good loyal citizens, and 
furnished from Illinois a Baker and a Hardin, who were 
killed at Cerro ( '•< »rdo. 

Henry Clay, the idol of the Whig party, was snowed 
under by Polk, whose name was scarcely known by the 
American people, and the slave power held high carnival 
for the next sixteen years. Compromises were treated as 
things of no moment. The Whig party entered a weak pro- 
tect and the free -nil party began to grow. The climax- 
was reached in [860, when the people rose in their might 
and said: "Thus far and no farther!" 

There was a greal rally in Peoria that year and a good 
man_\' Petersburg people attended. They went by way of 
Beardstown, from which point they took the steamer Jas- 
per to Peoria. They were gone a week. 

The tariff cut a big figure in this election. The Whig 
party was in favor of legislating millions of money into 
ilu' pockets of the eastern capitalists, just as the Republicans 
have been ever since the organization of that party. 

There were no telegraph lines nor railroads in the 



194 History of Menard County. 

"forties," and it was six weeks after the election when we 
first heard the result. Our folks then lived across the 
street from Bale's carding machine. One night about eleven 
o'clock George U. Miles and Samuel Hill came and 
awakened Bale, telling him that Polk was elected. Miles 
was much excited. He had been a Whig but voted for Polk. 
They got out a cannon that had been made from a shaft 
of the steamboat Talisman. It was about five feet long, 
four inches in diameter and had a two-inch bore. It had 
often been heard at Springfield. Over one hundred shots 
were fired from this cannon that night and sleep was out 
of the question. Miles and Hill furnished the powder. 
Josiah Hartsell, who was nicknamed "Saleratus," was chief 
gunner. About daybreak ''Saleratus" got reckless and be- 
gan ramming clay down on the charges of powder. Finally 
the old cannon burst in a thousand pieces, filling "Saleratus' ' 
legs and body with fine chips of iron that just penetrated 
the skin. I saw Dr. Allen pick out the scraps of iron, 
while "Saleratus" begged him to stop, that he was kill- 
ing him. 

The annexation of Texas soon brought on a war, as the 
Whigs said it would. Menard county furnished a company 
of which A. D. Wright was captain and it did valiant 
service. Only a few of that company are alive today. 
Time, with his relentless scythe, has cut a wide swath in 
the ranks of those who returned from the field of battle. 

After the Mexican war the United States took some 
territory and paid the Mexicans $15,000,000. 

Thomas L. Harris was a talented and cultured gentle- 
man, who came from the east and engaged in the practice 
of law. For several years he struggled with poverty and at 
times went into the harvest field to work. He distinguished 
himself in the Mexican war and after his return home was 
elected to Congress. About this time disease began to prey 
upon him, and when the vote on the repeal of the Missouri 



History of Menard County. 195 

Compromise act was taken. Major Harris was carried on his 
bed to the floor of the House that he might record his vote 
against the repeal. He died before the expiration of his 
term. No purer patriot and man than Thomas L. Harris 
has been called from labor to reward. 



FISH AT SALEM DAM 

Away back in the "thirties," before any distilleries were 
built on the Sangamon river at Springfield or Decatur, and 
before the sewerage from those cities was turned into the 
river, there was an abundance of fish in the stream. In the 
spring bass, sunfish, catfish, sturgeon, buffalo and suckers 
would start up the stream and would meet no impediment 
till they came to the dam at Salem mill. When the river 
was high they would go above and stock up the river a 
hundred miles further on. In the fall they would come 
down and run into the Illinois and [Missouri. 

At times there was good seining below the mill. I 
have ^een George Spears and Jim Clemens, with Spears' 
Negro Jim. come down to the mill and seine all night and 
catch all they wanted. In the spring of the year the fish 
would crowd up below the mill after the water was shut 
off the big turbine wheel. They would be so thick that I 
have gigged many of them by just jabbing the gig in the 
water. 

Among the experl fishermen of that day were Jack 
Kelso ami Riley 1 [endricks. Jack always fished with a hook 
and would make a good catch when other people couldn't 
get a bite, lie would put a bait on his hook and then spit 
on it. Then all the others who were fishing would spit on 
their bait and would occasionally get a small fish, while 



196 History of Menard County. 

Jack would fill his basket with black perch, weighing from 
two to six pounds, and" then with twenty-five pounds of 
fine fish would walk down to Petersburg and sell them. 

Riley Hendricks always gigged his fish. He was an 
expert at the business. Below the mill, where the water was 
boiling from the wheel, the fish would be shooting and 
darting about. Riley, with* almost unerring aim, would let 
the gig fly at a fish and nearly always got it. I saw him 
strike and get a sturgeon that was five feet long. 

But I have not related my fish story. Catfish were 
plenty in those days. Great big blue catfish. They gen- 
erally managed to get above the dam in the spring and 
were crazy to get below in the fall when the water was 
low. The only way for them to get down was to come 
through the wheel, which was an upright turbine wooden 
wheel. The water came through a wooden box about 
eighteen inches in size, to the wheel. When the gate was 
raised, and the water turned onto the wheel, some times, 
the wheel would choke down and stop. The miller would 
know it was full of fish and would shut off the water and 
take out the big catfish. At times there would be fifty fish 
in the wheel. Some would weigh twenty-five pounds and 
would be bent nearly double to suit the cups on the wheel, 
and some would be crushed, so tightly were they wedged in 
the wheel. The fish would all be taken out and thrown 
in a pile and the neighbors could help themselves. Fish 
were plenty in those days and I have not stretched my 
imagination in the above description. 



MY FIRST PAIR OF BOOTS 

In early times there were plenty of tan yards. Hides 
were not sold then as now. A man would kill a beef in the 
fall and take the hide to the nearest tan yard for tanning. 
Near the tail the owner of the yard would scrape off the hair 



History of Menard County. 197 

and with a suitable instrument put the man's name on the 
hide. By soaking the hide in lime water the hair would be 
loosened and could be scraped off. Then the tanner would 
work on the fleshed side till it was ready to be put in the vat, 
filled up with white oak bark, and the water let on, and after 
laying all summer, would be worked till it was finished 
leather. It took one year to make leather by this process. 
Now, I understand, leather can be made in two or three 
weeks. 

There were two tan yards in Petersburg run by James 
Anno and his brother Pollard. John Bennett bought them 
out. There was nothing striking about a tan yard, except 
grinding the bark. This was done with a large wooden 
wheel made of solid timber, about six feet in diameter and 
eighteen inches thick, and the surface filled with wooden 
teeth. The wheel was fastened on a shaft. A horse at the 
other end of the -haft turned the wheel. Bark would be laid 
around the circle and the horse would grind the bark till it 
\\a- tine. Alternate layers of bark and hides would till the 
vat. which was six or eighl feet deep, and thus the hide was 
tanned. 

There was in every community a man who made shoes. 
Alex. Fergesson of Salem, was the man for that community. 
I have seen my uncle. Wm. Sampson, who had eight boys 
and two girls, come to Fergesson' s with a couple of tanned 
hides and measures for all the children, and in a couple of 
weeks come back with a two bushel sack and get the shoes. 

I believe 1 was the first boy in Petersburg that had a pair 
of knots — red top boots. A. 1 ). Wright had a pair of boots 
made to order and they were too small for him to wear. So 
one dav lie offered to sell them to me. I was then twelve 
yens old. I told him I would like to have them though they 
were rather large for me. lie had three cords of wood, 
hackberry ami elm, corded up against a fence and he pro- 
posed if I would cut one end off for stove wood and leave 



198 History of Menard County. 

the other end for the fire place I should have the boots. I 
took him up, quick. I was three weeks doing the job, but 
was the only boy in town with a pair of red top boots. I 
had every boy in town helping me cut that wood before I got 
it done. 



THE OLD SCHOOL HOUSE ON THE HILL 

From 1840 to 1846 the school at Petersburg was taught 
in a frame house south of Dr. Allen's brick house on the hill 
west of the court house square. Charles B. Waldo was the 
teacher. He was a brother-in-law to John Bennett. I sup- 
pose he was above the average teacher or he would not have 
taught for six successive years. He had Latin scholars 
younger than I was, but I never studied Latin. I thought if 
I mastered the English language I would be content. Mr. 
Waldo was not so strict as was cousin Mentor Graham. 

I will try and call to memory some of those who 
attended school. There was the Brooks family, Albert, 
Lucy, John and others. Albert and Lucy have handed in 
their checks. John also is dead. There was the Laning fam- 
ily, Ed. and Sarah (wife of Dr. Short of Jacksonville), John, 
"B." and Fred. There was Thomps McNeely, who was a 
modest boy but we expect his contact with the world has had 
a hardening influence on his nerves. 

There was Tom, Dick and Harry Bennett — all gone. 
Tom, after years of toil and discouragement in Salt creek 
bottom, died just before his land was sold to the Hergets of 
Pekin at a good price. Harry died while keeping a drug 
store in Easton. Not a member of John Bennett's family is 
alive today as far as I know. 

There was Bill Cowgill and a sister, who removed from 
Petersburg a long time ago. The Trent family — Hugh, 
"Wimps," Nancy and Belle and John. Hugh and William- 
son and Nancy and John have gone the way of all the earth, 



History of Menard County. 199 

while Belle is living in Havana, the wife of William Webb. 

There was the Elam family, now scattered to the four 
corners of the earth, except Frances, who lives in Forest 
City. 

There was James Miles, still hale and hearty, who lives 
just north of town, and his sister Elizabeth, who married 
Chatterton, of Springfield, and Ann Miles, who became the 
wife of Lincoln's partner and who. I am informed, is dead. 
Fifty years make- a vast difference in a community. 

There was the Wright family. Lucy, the widow o\ 
Tom Bennett, is running the Hotel Smoot. Buck and Jack 
and Ed. are well known, having been born and raised in 
Petersburg. There was the Brahms, who lived north of 
Petersburg:, but who came to town to school. The oldest 
was Thomas, who died years ago; Nancy died a few months 
ago. John is in poor health and has moved to Chicago. 



A DEER HUNT 

There was a time when deer were plenty in Menard 
ci >unty. Jack ECels* 1 was a b< »ss hunter and m >t 1 >nly supplied 
his own family, but always kept venison ham- for -ale. Sam 
Wilcox was another hunter. The only difference was that 
Kelso used a rifle ami could kill a deer at long range, while 
Wilcox hunted on horseback and used a double-barreled 
shotgun. Wilcox -pent one winter I 1 think it was in [855 1 
in Forest <. 'itv tow nship and kept a wagon running all winter 
to Springfield, selling his venison. 1 think he told me that 
he killed sixty deer that winter. 1 recollect that on one trip 
on upper Spring Lake, as the result of a week's work, he 
brought home the carcasses of nineteen deer. But the 
hounds ran all the deer out of Menard and Mason long ago. 
1 have seen thirty deer in one drove. They would go out of 
Long Point in the evening to Red Oak swam]) and hack to 
Long Point in the morning. They would travel single hie. 



200 History of Menard County. 

walk awhile, trot, and then gallop. Not a deer had been seen 
in this section for twenty years. 

In 1843 Henry Fields, who worked on the court house in 
Petersburg, had a few hounds, and one Christmas he and a 
dozen of us boys went after deer. Just below the bridge, on 
the east side of the river, the hounds took a trial down the 
river. After awhile they crossed the river, then took west 
past Concord camp ground, the hunters keeping on the in- 
side of the circle. After awhile the hounds turned south till 
they passed Petersburg, and as a deer always came back to 
where he started from we all headed for the place where he 
would cross the river. The deer plunged into the river to 
swim across, when a dozen shots killed him. The water was 
deep and we were puzzled about how to get him out. Hugh 
Trent, who was always equal to any emergency, constructed 
a raft out of rails, pulled him out and brought him to shore. 
The deer was carried to town and the next day was divided 
up into fifteen or twenty shares. 

I have seen deer run through the streets of Petersburg 
when they did not know there was a town till they got in it. 
Deer skins used to be legal tender for all debts, public and 
private. 



GEORGE KIRBY OF SANDRIDGE 

Tuesday morning of this week found us on the C, P. & 
St. L. train, speeding south from our home at Forest City. 
We stopped at Oakford and found "Tobe" Kirby waiting for 
us. "Is this Mr. Onstot?" said he, "That's my name; is 
this Mr. Kirby?" asked I. "That's my name," returned he. 
So, with this self introduction, we took passage in his buggy 
for his residence six miles east of Oakford. We found him 
a very agreeable companion. As we traveled along we 
passed a number of fine farm houses and he kindly and en- 
tertainingly answered all our questions regarding their 



History of Menard County. 201 

ownership, etc. Also, along- the route were school houses, 
such as are seen all over the country, where the children as- 
semble to get a good common school education to equip them 
for the duties of life. 

Finally ahead of us there loomed up a big farm house — ■ 
big enough for a hotel, where our companion lives and where 
we stopped. The occasion of our visit was to attend the 
eighty-sixth birthday anniversary of George Kirby, the 
father of our host, whom we had not seen for more than 
fifty years. We were kindly, even cordially received. 

George ECirby was born in Madison county, Illinois, De- 
cember 20, 1812, and came to Clary's Grove. Menard 
county, in 1820. We doubt if there are a dozen people now 
living who were here when he came. The county was wild 
then. Venison, wild turkey and other game supplied the 
board tables in the rude cabin of his father, Cyrus Kirby. 
It was before any of the great inventions of the age had been 
made. There were no railroad-. n< » telegraph, no telephones 
no bicycles. It must have been a lonesome time for young 
George, growing up at that time, but he did grow up. He 
received a common school education, and with his good 
common sense made a success in life while others with just 
a- good or better advantages made dismal failures. He 
married Dorcas Atterberry in October, 1834. She died a 
few years ago. llis son. George T., 1 our host I, now con- 
ducts the farm. lie is a "chip off the old block" — a fine 
specimen of the middle aged men. suns of the pioneers of 
this country. 

Among the guests were the venerable Squire D. Masters 
and win-. Mrs. Lucy Watkins, (sister of George Kirby). 
James Senter, (a son-in-law) and wife, and others. Mrs. 
Watkins has passed her ninetieth year. 

A royal feast was spread. The fatted calf had been 
killed, and Mrs. George Kirby, Jr., .and her daughters, left 
nothing undone to make the guests feel at home. After 



202 History of Menard County. 

dinner all repaired to the sitting room, where a blazing fire 
in the old fashioned fireplace, the first we had seen in many 
years, made everything look cheerful. "Uncle George" and 
Squire Masters regaled the party with anecdotes and inci- 
dents of early days, and upon comparing notes we found 
that there were three of us who had never drank liquor or 
used tobacco in any form. 

"Uncle George" Kirby's success as a farmer is attested 
by his ownership of 1,200 acres of fine farm land. The 
home place is well kept and well stocked by the son, George 
T., better known as "Tobe." He is feeding sixty head of 
cattle and a fine lot of hogs at the present time. He not 
only feeds all the corn produced on the farm but buys as 
much more of the neighbors. 

"Tobe" has a bachelor brother. Sam, a fine, good look- 
ing man in the prime of life. If Sam lived in Mason 
county some buxom widow or old maid would capture him 
the first leap year that came around. We feel an interest in 
him and would help him to get a wife if he would say so. 

The men of George Kirby's stamp have made this coun- 
try what it is. They have left their impress on their sons, 
who in turn have sons that cultivate the moral and intellec- 
tual interests of the physical man. Many of the men we have 
written about, who lived and died in the early history of the 
county, contributed but little to its morals. 

We came from the Kirby home to Petersburg in the 
evening. The road was quite muddy, but with "Tobe" for 
our companion the trip was a pleasant one. 

We like to meet these old settlers and as we have leisure 
now will be glad to do so at any time ; and we promise to 
keep our end of the single-tree up. 




CHAPTER XIX. 

OLD TIME STORIES 

[-MONG the pioneer settlers of Menard county who 
have answered death's call within the past year 
were Dulcena Goodpasture and Parthena Hill. 
I remember Mrs. Goodpasture from the time of 
her marriage — a tall, beautiful young woman of majestic 
carriage. She came from a noble family and was a sister of 
Jacob and John William-. As a hoy. 1 had great reverence 
for her: she was so kind and affable and made one feel at 
ease when in her presence. I had not seen her for nearly 
fifty years until about a year ago 1 met her at Mc< rrady Rut- 
ledge's in Petersburg. She had changed greatly, of course, 
but there was the same kindly greeting as in the olden times. 
I -aw her again at ( )ld Salem Chautauqua and the signs of 
declining health were plainly visible. The end came in a 
few months and this uncrowned queen of earth was re-united 
with her husband. When the roll is called up yonder, no 
purer, brighter spirit will answer than Dulcena Goodpasture. 
It was in [837 that I rirsl -aw Parthena Hill. She had 
just been married to Samuel 1 [ill, the Salem merchant. Her 
maiden name was Nance, and she was a sister oi Hon. 
Thoina> Nance. She stood high in the circle in which she 
moved. She joined the Presbyterian church and was a de- 
voted christian as long as she lived. Mr. Hill died and many 
years of her life were spent in the loneliness of widowhood. 
I made it a point to call on her when I visited Petersburg, 
and was always warmly welcomed. She loved to talk over 
old times and more than once spoke about my plat of Salem 



204 History of Menard County. 

and the article about the village which I furnished The Dem- 
ocrat in 1892. She had preserved them in a scrap book. 

These two noble women outlived their generation. Like 
ripened shocks of grain they have been gathered into the 
heavenly garner and the world is better because they lived. 

When a boy I helped Abraham Goodpasture farm the 
bottom land along where the C, P...& St. L. railroad crosses 
the river south of Petersburg. The land was new and very 
fertile and the corn grew so high that 1 had to bend the stalks 
down to gather the ears. The bottom land between Peters- 
burg and Salem, though it has been farmed a long time, ap- 
pears to still produce abundant crops. I saw corn on the old 
Able farm two years ago that would make sixty bushels to 
the acre. 

Goodpasture and I ran a thrashing machine one year. 
Not a steam thrasher. Oh, no. It was a horse power of 
the primitive kind. We scraped off a round spot of ground 
about twenty feet in diameter and when we had ten acres of 
wheat to thrash we would haul a couple of loads and lay it 
down on this ground and I would ride the horses around on 
it until we would get dizzy ; then I would turn them and go 
the other way as long as I and the horses could stand it. 
Then Brother G. would say : "While you are resting take 
my fork and stir up the grain." I thought it was a queer 
way to rest, but generally obeyed. I think we could thrash 
and clean about one acre a day. Goodpasture was from the 
hilly part of Tennessee and commenced farming in the San- 
gamon bottoms. He was a fair preacher; not of the sen- 
sational kind, but of the doctrinal sort. 

The history of Menard county would be incomplete with- 
out aij extended notice of Hardin Bale, the eldest son of 
Jacob Bale. As early as 1836 he was running the carding 
machine in Salem. He was an expert machinist. The 
main building was a frame about forty feet square. A shed 
on the north covered the incline wheel which was forty feel 



History of Menard County. 205 

in diameter and stood at an incline of twenty-five degrees. 
On this wheel two oxen furnished the motive power. A 
large sill operated by a lever in the side of the mill held the 
wheel still, and it was set in motion by letting the brake loose. 
The cogs in this machine were all made of wood. With this 
rnde machinery all the carding machines were run. First 
was the picker, which made the wool ready for the first ma- 
chine. After going through this it was left in bats ready 
for the finisher, and came out in rolls. It was then done up 
in bundles and tied up. Hardin took toll out of the wool 
after it had been run through the picker. In 1841 he moved 
his machine to Petersburg and established it on Main street, 
four blocks south of the present court house. Great im- 
provements were made. The buildings were larger, the 
wheel was nearly fifty feet in diameter, iron cogs were sub- 
stituted for the w< m 'den < >nes, and horses and mules were used 
instead of oxen. 

In the course of a few years steam took the place of 
horse power and machinery for fulling cloth was added ; then 
a spinning jenny with one hundred and sixty-eight spindle-. 
then weaving machines. Samuel Hill, who always took a 
great interest in machinery and Hardin Bale, became part- 
ners and a pair of French buhrs were added. The mill now 
assumed large proportions and was successfully run till fire 
destroyed it in [865. The ground has since laid vacant. 

Hardin Bale came out of the tire considerably worsted, 
but he was not inclined to give up. He secured a large 
building across the branch by the coal bank and there carried 
on the business f< »r a number of years. Ami »ng the men who 
worked for him many years were 1 1 urd, the fuller, and Caleb 
Carman, the carder. These men and their employer have 
gone to the country from whence no traveler has yet re- 
turned. 

I [ardin Bale married Esther Summers in his early man- 
hood and raised quite a family. His father-in-law. Len 



206 



History of Menard County. 



Summers, was an old settler who lived west of Salem and 
was noted for murdering the English language. 

Hardin Bale's history is like that of hundreds of others. 
For a few years he prospered in every venture, but the tide 
turned and misfortune overtook him. He always had a 
brave heart, however, and never gave up. 



JUDGE JOSEPH H. PILLSBURY 




JUDGE JOSEPH H. PILLSBURY 



Was one of the early settlers of Menard county. He 
was born in 1830, in Stafford county New Hampshire. 

His mother came to Menard county and settled there in 
the "thirties." It then being but a new county and called 



Sangamon. 



He was given a good education in Illinois college. He 
located in Petersburg in 1854 and read law with the lamented 



History of Mexard Couxtv. 



207 



Thomas L. Harns. He then taught school. In 1855 nc 
was elected school commissioner, serving in that capacity 
for six years. In 1856 he was admitted to the bar; was 
elected police magistrate and appointed master-in-chancery, 
which office he held eight years. He was then elected 
county judge. He filled these several offices with efficiency 
and fidelity. He was married to Miss Susan M. Gardner in 
1 861. 

Two children, Joseph B. and Susan H.. who, with his 
devoted wife, survive him. He administered on his own 
estate and had all of his business settled when he died. He 
had perfect faith in the Lord, having been baptised in his 
own home, and died full of years and honor-. 




^s^ip 



CHAPTER XX. 



REMINISCENCES OF MENARD COUNTY 




T THE session of the Legislature in 1838 — '39, 
Menard county was stricken off Sangamon and 
named Menard, in honor of Col. Pierre Menard, 
a Frenchman, who settled at Kaskaskia. Me 
nard was so popular in his day that when the convention 
framed the constitution of the state, a clause was included 
in the constitution providing that any citizen of the United 
States, who had resided in the state for two years, might be 
eligible to the office of lieutenant governor. This was done 
that Col. Menard, who had only been naturalized a year or 
so, might be made lieutenant governor under Shadrick 
Bond the first governor of Illinois. 

As Menard county was named after this popular French- 
man, it might be interesting to give a short account of his 
life. He was born in the city of Quebec in 1767, and in 
his nineteenth year his spirit of adventure led him to seek 
his fortune in the territory watered by the Mississippi. He 
soon found employment with Col. Vigo ; in 1790 he formed a 
partnership with Duboose, a merchant in Vincennes, and 
shortly afterwards removed their stock to Kaskaskia. Me- 
nard, though possessed of a limited education, was a man of 
quick and good judgment. He was honest and full of 
energy and industry, and a leader among the people of his 
adopted home. For a number of years he was a government 
agent for the Indians and had the esteem and friendship of 
the tribes. This secured him great advantages as a mer- 
chant. He could buy their furs for half the price they could 



History of Mexard County. 209 

be purchased by other traders. He was a member of the 
legislature from 1812 to 1818. He was lieutenant governor 
from 1818 to 1822. and after that declined to accept any 
further honors from the people. He died in Tazewell 
county at the good old age of "J years. Such was the man 
for whom Menard county was named. 

The boundaries of Menard unity are as follows : Com- 
mencing on the east. Salt Creek, north of Irish Gro\-e and 
the Sangamon river form its eastern boundary, on the north 
the waters of the Sangamon form its northern boundary, on 
the west Clary's Grove. Little Grove and Puncheon Camp 
Grove form the western boundary, and on the south Rock 
(reck. The Sangamon river flows through the center of 
the county from south to north. The county contains two 
hundred twenty five square miles. A number of small 
streams flow into the Sangamon and Salt Creek, affording 
plenty of fresh water for stock and other purposes. The 
surface of the country is generally level, though for a mile 
or so back of the streams it is broken. The greater part 
of the county, in its native state, was prairie covered with a 
luxuriant coat of grass with countless varieties of (lower-. 
Groves and bodies of timber are interspersed all over the 
county in ample abundance for agricultural and manufactory 
purposes. Along the Sangamon, for a mile and a half on 
either side, the timber was mice heavy with white oak 
growth, but the woodman's axe has laid the forest low and 
the lands have either been brought into cultivation or used 
for pasturing the countless herds of cattle or Hocks of slice]). 
Rock Creek and Indian Point had in early days heavy tim- 
ber. In the eastern part of the county Irish Grove and 
Sugar ( Irove had some splendid forests, while in the western 
part Clary's Grove and Little ( rrove had sufficient timber for 
its own use. The native timber was white oak, which was 
king of the forest, which, with red oak, walnut, hickory. 
cherrv, elm and main other varieties, made up the forest. 

14 



210 History of Menard County. 

We counted the number of kinds of timber on old Salem 
Chautauqua grounds and found twenty-seven different 
kinds. The soft wood along the rivers are sycamore and Cot- 
tonwood which grow to a very large size, while soft maple 
is a very quick growth and is used much for shade and orna- 
mental trees. The sugar maple appears to be a natural 
growth all over the country, and in pioneer days the sugar 
tree furnished syrup and sugar for the early settlers. 

The soil of Menard county is very productive, not only 
in the bottom lands, but the uplands are equally productive 
for pasture. The farmer only clears the land of the tim- 
ber, which is soon set with a magnificent coat adapted to 
corn, wheat or oats. For many years the raising and feed- 
ing of cattle and hogs was very profitable to the farmer, but 
the high price of pasture land, when brought into compari- 
son with the cheap western lands, did not leave as much 
profit as the farmer desired, and the Menard farmer now 
turns his attention to raising the finer strains of horses and 
cattle, and the Norman and Clydesdale and other fine breeds 
of race horses, are raised to a profit. 

Another great source of wealth to Menard county is its 
inexhaustible beds of coal. In the first settlement of the 
county small veins of coal crept out at Petersburg and at 
the Purkapile branch. The coal was not used for fuel, and a 
blacksmith would only have to strip off the dirt two or three 
feet deep and get all the coal he needed. The first stoves 
used were wood stoves, and the women said the coal would 
burn the stove out. The coal is three veins in thickness and 
the strata will make at least twenty-five feet in thickness, 
and in every foot of coal there are twenty bushels of coal or 
one million tons of coal per acre. This is of itself an inex- 
haustible source of wealth. No nation can succeed without 
a supply of coal, as it drives the factories and the commerce 
of the world. There are a number of coal mines operated 
near Petersburg, furnishing labor for a large number of 



History of Menard County. 211 

employes and furnishing a home market for a large amount 
of produce. The first coal shaft was owned by Elijah Tay- 
lor in the fall of 1845. 

Stone is not as plentiful as could be desired. There 
are quantities of limestone on Rock Creek lying near the 
surface that makes excellent stone for foundation, but not 
lying near to a railroad, will never be developed for building 
purposes, though it makes an excellent quality of lime. 
Stone is also found at old Salem and at Petersburg but the 
quarries have never been worked. The natural advantages 
of Menard county are great, and no locality is better sup- 
plied with facilities for manufactory enterprises. There is 
also clay of a superior quality for manufactory drain tile. 
Brick of an excellent quality is made all over the county. It 
it strange that manufactories for agricultural implements, 
plows, reapers, wagons and buggies are not made in the 
county, instead of paying out hundreds of thousands of 
dollars to have them brought from other places. 



EARLY SETTLEMENTS 

Settlements were first made in Sangamon county before 
any white settlement was made in the bounds of Menard 
county, and Menard was a part of Sangamon until 1839. 
There are conflicting statements as to who was the first 
settler. John Clary claims to be the first as far back as 
1 819, just as it became a state. He settled near Tal- 
lula, and Clary's Grove takes its name from him. lie built 
the first house in the grove and a number of houses were 
built soon after. The houses built by the first settlers were 
very rude affairs. Not a nail was used, nor a pane of glass. 
Directlv after Clary settled in the grove the Armstrong's, 



212 History of Menard County 

Green's and Spears' settled west of the Sangamon. Soon 
after Sngar Grove was settled. About the same time Charles 
Montgomery and Alexander Meadows were among the first 
settlers east of the Sangamon river. James Meadows and 
Jacob Bozer came to Sugar Grove in 1819. They came 
from the American Bottom above Alton. Meadows had 
one wagon drawn by two horses, one milk cow, and a yoke 
of yearling steers and thirty head of hogs. Bozer brought 
three head of horses, two milch cows and a yoke of oxen. 
The Blaine family came next. This family were of Irish 
blood and Irish Grove was named after them. The Blaines 
brought two span of horses and six yoke of oxen. They 
soon built cabins and were probably in the grove when Clary 
settled in Clary's Grove. 

The Blaine's took claims, erected cabins, and began to 
grow up with the country. As above stated, Meadows had 
brought two horses and thirty head of hogs and a yoke of 
yearling steers with him to the grove. In a few months the 
horses were missing and the hogs strayed away and were 
lost. In a short time one of the calves was found dead. 
Search was made, as it was difficult to replace the stock with- 
out a great deal of expense. Meadows applied to a fortune 
teller to learn what had become of the horses and hogs. He 
told Meadows that the horses were in the possession of the 
Indians and that he would get them back one at a time. 
Sure enough, the horses were found in the possession of the 
Indians who claimed to have traded for them with a French • 
man. The horses were so worn out that they soon died. 
The hogs, he told Meadows, had gone down the Sangamon 
river and one-half had been eaten. Meadows followed his 
directions. He finally found and recovered part of his hogs. 
The early settler put a great deal of confidence in fortune 
tellers. Soon another caravan of emigrants cyme to the 
grove, among whom were John Jennison and William Mc- 
Nabb. James McNabb, son of William, taught the first 



History of Menard County. 213 

school in the county. He was also a surveyor. He was 
drowned while trying to swim the Sangamon river with his 
compass tied on his head. Soon after Ben Wilcox and 
others came from Kentucky. Mr. Pentacost settled near 
the place where Marbold now lives. I was born on Henry 
Marbold's farm. My father moved to Sugar Grove in an 
early day. The house used to be owned by Alex. Meadows. 
Marbold told me that the house stood there till about twenty 
years ago. The Indians had their camps along Salt CreeK 
and they used to come out to Sugar Grove to get milk. Will- 
iam Engle and Leonard Alkire moved to the grove in an 
early day. They were prominent farmers and their descend- 
ants still exert a great influence to this day. Bill Engle 
was an all-around man. He kept a store at Sweet Water for 
many years. He was also a great politician, an old line 
democrat of the Jacksonian style. Engle and Alkire being 
men of means, soon began to buy out claims. John Jenni- 
son farmed a year or so in the grove and then moved to 
Baker's Prairie. The tide of emigration now began to 
flow in, bringing in a host of a hardy and industrious class 
of people, forming a thrifty class. The first marriage was 
John Jennison to Patsy McXabb. The second was Mr. 
Hennar and Rosina Blaine. The third. William Engle and 
Melissa Alkire. The first death was an infant son of 
Bozer. The second death was James Blaine. The third 
was Joseph Kennev. who was buried in Sugar Grove ceme- 
tery and an elm tree grew up out of the grave and is now a 
large tree. The first school house was built in Sugar Grove 
in [S_>_\ and was built by Meadows. Bayer, Wilcox and Mc- 
Xabb. It was built of split logs and was sixteen by sixteen, 
covered with clap boards held to their place by weight poles: 
the house was as good as any in the country. The seats 
were a log split and four pins for legs, a log left out for a 
window, the pens all made of goose quills, and the scholars 
kept the teacher one-half the time making or mending goose 



214 History of Menard County. 

quills, and the teacher always carried half a dozen quills 
behind his ear. The books were the old English readers or 
the testament. In arithmetic the scholars hardly ever got 
past the single rule of three. Grammar was a dead language 
for a number of years till the advent of Mentor Graham in 
the country. A grammar teacher organized a class and as- 
sisted the scholars in their first lesson. The first preaching 
in Sugar Grove was by the Campbellites. William Engle 
was a preacher of that order and most of the settlers were of 
that order. Peter Cartright used to say that they had a way 
to- heaven fifteen hundred miles shorter than any other sect 
and all the way by water. The nearest doctor was at Spring- 
field. Dr. Winn was the first doctor. He settled near 
Indian Point and practiced medicine in an early day, but 
finally moved up near W T aynesville. 

Indian Point, about half way between Sugar Grove and 
Athens, was the center of a lot of emigrants. This was 
settled in 1820. The first settler at Indian Point was Rob- 
ert White. Near his house was the Lebanon camp ground. 
Old Robert White was a brother of James White, who set- 
tled near Tallula. Soon came James Williams. He had 
two sons. Jake Williams, a blooded cattle raiser, was the 
first man to introduce the short horn cattle. Another son. 
Col. John Williams went to Springfield and was identified 
with important improvements. Among his daughters were 
Canedy Kincaid's wife and Abraham Goodpasture's wife. 
The Moore's and the Scotts' were a numerous family. Old 
Billy Short came in an early day. He sometimes practiced 
law'before the lower courts. He was a man of limited edu- 
cation and when in controversy on some limited point would 
call for his opponent to show the statutes. The settlement 
at Indian Point was one of the most important made in the 
county, and many of the descendants of the pioneers still 
live in the fame of their ancestors. Perhaps there is no 
locality in Menard county where as many of their children 
and even to the third generation live, as at Indian Point. 



History of Menard County. 215 

Having- thus sketched the centers of the three first settle- 
ments in the county, the most important locality was what 
was called in an early day Xew Salem. This was the first 
town laid out in the county. This town was laid out where 
the Sangamon river washes the foot of a hill or bluff whose 
sides and level summit were at an early day covered with a 
heavy growth of white oak timber. The country back from 
the crest of the hill is level for miles. To the westward the 
timber continues back from the river for a mile in a dense 
forest, beyond which the prairie continues unbroken for 
miles. 

On the south. Rock Creek, a small stream, but large 
enough for the rude water-mill of an earl}' day, comes into 
the Sangamon from the west. This creek was also covered 
on its sides with a hue growth of timber. Just on the brow 
of the bluff, in years long gone by, was situated the village of 
Xew Salem. This deserted village will in time become as 
historic as Mt. Vernon. Although the Sangamon will not 
compare with the Patomac, yet Salem is as sacred to the 
lovers of liberty as Mt. Vernon in all her historic glory. 
Many visitors from Kentucky and Tennessee come to the 
spot where Abraham Lincoln spent the days of his early 
manhood, where he studied law. wrestled and romped with 
young men of his age, and where he imbibed principles, 
which in after years, made him the idol of the American 
people, and where Ik- wrote his name high on the scroll of 
fame in tablets more enduring than granite, brass or bronze. 
They are disappointed in not finding any vestige of Salem. 
Even the old mill at the foot of the hill is gone and scarcely 
a vestige of the dam remains. ( )nly one land mark remains. 
This is Jacob's Well. This well was made by Jacob Bale 
and is still walled up with rock. It appears indestructable; 
covered with a lot of old railroad ties it remains as a re- 
minder of old Salem sixty years ago. Settlements had 
been made in the vicinity a few years before Salem had been 



216 History of Menard County. 

laid out. William Green, Ned Potter, the Jones' and Hugh 
Armstrong had moved southwest a few miles, while Tarle- 
ton Lloyd had settled up farther to the south on Rock 
Creek. 



LINCOLN AND THE BULL 

It is reported that Lincoln was one day crossing a field 
in which a bull was pastured. The bull, espying Lincoln, 
gave chase. Lincoln, seeing that he could not reach the 
other side in safety, commenced to run around a hay stack 
and soon had the bull in front of him. Seizing the bull by 
the tail he now became the aggressor. The frightened 
animal then took across the pasture with Lincoln kicking 
him in the sides, first with one foot and then the other. 
Giving him a parting kick, he exclaimed : "You son of a 
cow, who began this fight anyhow?" 



CHAPTER XXI. 



ANECDOTES OF MENARD 




FTER the mill was built at Salem it was a big 
thing, and people came from fifty miles around, 
and sometimes waited a week for their grist. 
Such was the patronage given to the mill, that 
a town was demanded, and so, on the thirteenth day of Oc- 
tober, 1820. Reuben Hamison, surveyor, layed out the town 
< >f Salem. The owners were John Camen m and James Rut - 
ledge, and they improved the town by building each a log- 
cabin, and for a decade the town had an interesting history, 
but now nothing remains t<> mark the buildings but a few 
cellars, but the history of Salem will live as long as the mem- 
ory of Abraham Lincoln endure-. At the time Salem was 
laid out there had never been a i>ostoffice in the county, the 
people getting what little mail they then received from 
Springfield, then a mere village. About this time Dr. John 
Allen came from the east, lie was a christian gentleman 
and stood very high in his profession. He soon had a Sun- 
day school started in a log cabin that stood across the branch 
near the grave yard. 

Abraham Lincoln came in the summer of 1S31 on his 
return from a trip down the Sangamon river. This was his 
first trip to Salem, though he had passed down the river early 
the preceding spring. There is a story of Lincoln boring a 
hole in a tlat boat to let the water out while the boat was fast 
on the dam. The boat was loaded at Decatur with pork in 



218 History of Menard County. 

barrels and some live hogs. The boat ran with such force 
upon the dam that the bow ran over and was clear out of the 
water and the water in the boat ran forward, so by boring a 
hole in the boat at the front it was lightened up and ran over 
the dam. 

Mr. Offit bought a stock of goods and hauled them from 
Beardstown to Salem, set up a store, and engaged Lincoln as 
clerk. This was Lincoln's advent to Salem. 

Salem now began to build up. There was Jack Kelso, 
the hunter and fisherman ; Jonathan Miller, the blacksmith ; 
Henry Onstot, the cooper, and Robert Johnson, the wheel 
wright ; William Berry, the grocery keeper, and others whose 
names are not mentioned. Lincoln raised a company for 
service in the Black Hawk war. No member of that com- 
pany is now living, though many of their sons are still in 
Menard county. They never saw any fighting. Black 
Hawk had sold his reservation in Iowa, and white men could 
not wait for the details of the sale to be consummated and had 
rushed in to get the best lands, and Black Hawk was going 
to hold the lands until the treaty was complied with. When 
Lincoln was elected to the legislature in 1834 he set out on 
foot with only one suit of homespun clothes. Lincoln was 
a popular man with all classes of people. 

The next settlement of any note was Concord, four and 
one-half miles north of Petersburg. The settlement was all 
made in the timber. Ten or twenty acres of land would be 
grubbed out and fenced, while the finest prairie land in the 
world was ready for the pioneers plow without grubbing it. 
I don't know why this was done unless they thought they 
would freeze to death on the prairie. 

The young man of the present day has but little concep- 
tion of the manners and costumes of the early settler, and it 
is strange how such a complete revolution could have been 
made in the last half century. It would be impossible to 
give the youth of today a just conception of the clothing, the 



History of Menard County. 219 

duelling and diet and social costumes, everything having un- 
dergone a complete revolution. It may truthfully be said 
that the cabins of the early settlers were but little in advance 
of the three-faced camp of the first pioneers, the house, being 
of hewn or rough logs, the cracks filled in with mortar 
made of clay mixed with straw. If the floor was made of 
anything else but earth trampled down until it was hard, it 
was made of puncheons split out of a straight grained tree 
and about four inches thick. It was hewn out with an axe 
and then laid down on stumps of round oak and not nailed 
down and then crevises large enough for the children to run 
their feet through. The roof was covered with shakes held 
down with weight poles. For a fireplace one whole end of 
the house was taken, the lower part was lined up with stone 
or clay for live or six feet. About a cord of wood was neces- 
sary for a fire. A buckeye back log and then a fore stick about 
half as large set on dog irons filled in with kindling wood. 
There was no such thing as matches in those days, and it 
was a customary thing to borrow fire at the neighbors to 
start a fire or perchance the old flint rock would be brought 
into use to strike fire with. The upper part of the chimney 
would be built with >ticks laid in mortar. This would often 
get on fire in the day. but would be put out before going to 
bed. The door would lie made of boards nailed or pinned 
together, so dear reader, you have some idea of the houses 
your ancestors lived in. A buck string was attached to the 
latch and allowed to hang on the outside, hence the old say- 
ing, "you will always find the latch string on the outside." 
As cook stoves had not been invented, a flat oven and a skillet 
were the utensils, which, with a teakettle completed the 
cooking outfit. The skillet was used to fry the meat in while 
the oven was set on a bed of coals, and the house wife would 
take a gallon of corn meal and mix it up stiffly and mould it 
into shape by changing it from one hand to the other, and 
then tip it into the oven, patting it to the desired thickness. 
About three of these corn cakes would fill the oven. 



2.20 History of Menard County. 

When the lid of the oven was covered with live coals and 
the dodgers baked hard enough to knock a Texas steer down, 
the imprints of the fingers would be left on the corn cakes. 
This made the dodgers a legal tender. Lye hominy was 
also an article of diet which no well regulated household 
•could afford to dispense with. Sugar was unknown except 
where the sugar trees abounded. Honey was found in the 
timber everywhere as the bees held undisputed sway. Pre 
serves were made with honey from grapes, crab apples, etc., 
but they were only opened when company came, and then we 
also had biscuits, but corn bread, honey and hog was the 
•chief diet. 

The clothing was of the simplest kind in early days. The 
men wore pants of buckskin, caps of coon or fox skins, while 
the feet of both sexes were covered with the moccasin. Cot- 
ton goods were very scarce and difficult to get. The men 
raised flax and rotted and broke it, the women would then 
spin and weave it and make it up into garments. It was al- 
most useless to have sheep on account of the numbers of black 
and gray wolves that roamed the timbers and prairies, and 
would destroy whole flocks of sheep in a single night. So af- 
ter they began to raise hemp and flax the people began to ap- 
pear in a better garb. This made good underwear, also towels 
and tablecloths. When the people came to this new country 
they brought an immense lot of clothing with them that 
lasted for several years. In an early day it did not take as 
many widths of cloth for a dress as now. I have known a 
farmer to buy a bolt of factory cloth and have it colored 
orange, and then have it made up for his family. Girls 
from five to sixteen all had an orange colored dress with 
three widths or so in it. If a girl had to jump a branch, 
she had to take into consideration the width of her dress. 
The boys had a pair of pants made out of tow linen, with a 
suit of flax for Sunday, and the boys from eight to twelve 
years of age had no other clothing than a long tow linen 



History of Menard County. 221 

shirt. In the winter they were supplied with buckskin pants, 
moccasin shoes, and sometimes a blue jeans coat. After 
sheep began to be raised by the settlers, flannel and linsey 
was woven for the women and jeans for the men. While 
dye stuffs were scarce, walnut bark was used which made a 
butternut color which is still used in the South. Everybody 
did their own spinning, and if a person wanted to hire a girl, 
the first question asked was "How many cuts can you spin ?" 
A dozen cuts was a day's work, though there were girls that 
could go from fifteen to twenty cuts a day. Xot every 
family had a loom, as it took up too much room, unless they 
had an outhouse for the loom. You could hear the weavers 
go whack — whack — during the fall and winter all over the 
country. Boots were a luxury that few indulged in. I 
never had a pair of boots until 1 was twelve years old. and 
then it was only by accident. I was the first boy in Peters- 
burg who had a pair. In summer time boys and girls went 
bare-footed, and in Menard county boys had stone bruises on 
their feet nearly all summer. It was mostly in the heel of 
the foot about a quarter of an inch under the skin. A 
gathering of matter resulting from a bruise would commence 
sometimes. A razor would he used to pare down the skin 
so as to open the bruise. 1 have seen boys with a stone 
bruise on one heel. On the other foot there would he a 
sti me bruise on the toes, and the pi 11 ir 1»< >y w< iuld have t< 1 navi- 
gate 1 m one heel and one t< ie. 

The agricultural implements were fully up to everything 
else. There were no steel clipper plows, only a wooden 
mould board for breaking up the ground, that would not 
scour a rod in a quarter ^i a mile. A paddle had to be car- 
ried with the plow. The corn was cultivated with the hoe 
or bull tongue, or a very rude kind of a shovel plow. All 
planting was done by marking off two ways with a shovel 
pl( >w and then dr< >pping and c< wering with a hoe. All team- 
ing was done with ox teams, and it was no uncommon sight 
to see four to >j\ yoke hitched to a large plow. 



CHAPTER XXII. 



NAVIGATION ON THE SANGAMON 




N EARLY days before railroads were invented 
or dreamed of, the people of Springfield and 
Menard county looked forward to the time 
when steamboats would be the means of 
sending their surplus products, and bringing back goods and 
merchandise. In fact the navigation of the river was more 
feasible then than now. The great bodies of timber along 
the stream had never been acquainted with the woodman's 
axe, and the stream, with the exceptions of a few overhang- 
ing trees and a few unimportant drifts, was a stream that 
offered but few impediments to navigation. The river fur- 
nished a more steady supply of water then than now. The 
winter snow and the summer rains supplied the water, and 
the earth, not being trampled by stock as at present, the 
Sangamon was evenly fed the whole year. As far back as 
1 83 1 the experiment was tried of loading a steamer at Al- 
ton with merchandise. There were no bridges across the 
stream, and the steamer had no difficulty in making the trip 
till it arrived at the Salem dam, where it stuck. By un- 
loading a part of the cargo and using a capstand, it was 
pulled over the clam and went on its way rejoicing. In a 
few years the Utility, a stern wheeler, came up and laid at 
the Salem mill for a week or ten days. I was ofd enough to 
remember the Utility. It attracted great attention. Farm- 
ers came for miles around to see it. The river began to fall 
and it was dismantled at Petersburg, and its machinery was 



History of Menard County. 223 

put in the first mill, while the pine lumber used in its con- 
struction was used in building houses in Petersburg. The 
engine was a large single engine, and it did good service for 
many years. It stood in the mill as late as 1841, though the 
mill had gone down. This ended the navigation of the 
Sangamon, as railroads had begun to come in use. A horse 
boat was built in 1845. Tne Gamels came from Sugar 
Grove. Major Hill, with a few others, cut a big black wal- 
nut tree in the grove. The tree was 80 feet long, it was 
split straight rind hauled to Petersburg, and the boat was 
built, but a sufficient amount of power was not obtained to 
propel the boat up stream even when empty. 



WARLIKE SPIRIT OF MENARD COUNTY 

Little Menard has always had a warlike character. In 
my childhood there were still living in its bounds two sol- 
diers who had fought in the Revolutionary war. One was 
the father of James Short who was an early friend of Lin- 
coln's. He lived north of Petersburg. It was old man 
Short who killed sixteen wild turkeys at one shot and the re 
coil of the gun broke his leg. The other was Daddy Boger 
who lived in Wolf, lie was a basket maker and he would 
come to Petersburg every Saturday with a basket on each 
arm and every person in those days had a Boger basket made 
out of the best white oak splits. They were what was called 
hoop baskets, and were very strong and substantial. In 
1S44 slavery was either to haw more territory or to go out 
of existence, we went to war. The cry was Polk and Texas. 
Texas had achieved her independence from Mexico with the 
Rio Grande river as the western boundary. In the election 



224 History of Menard County. 

the south and Polk were triumphant, and Henry Clay, who 
had rather be right than president, was beaten. The slave 
power now ran wild and instead of stopping' at the Rio 
Grande river, demanded that the line of Texas be moved 
two hundred miles farther west to the Rio Nuses, which 
Texas had never claimed. The Whigs opposed this claim, 
though when it came to voting supplies to carry on the war, 
they voted for them on the principle of "Our Country, right 
or wrong." So when our troops were moved over next to 
Mexico, it took no time to start the war, and then it was 
published all over the country that American blood had been 
spilled on American soil. This was enough. When the 
average American gets the smell of human blood, he usually 
goes in for all it is worth. So the war was started, and 
Illinois furnished four regiments. Col. Baker and Col. 
Hardin, as good men as Illinois ever produced, raised regi- 
ments in the central part of the state. Col, or General Hardin 
laid down his life at Buena Vista, while Col. Baker re- 
served his life for Ball's Bluff, in the Rebellion. Menard 
county furnished one company of stalwarts. A. D. Wright 
was elected captain, William C. Clary, first lieutenant, 
Sheldon Johnson, second lieutenant, and Robert Scott, third 
lieutenant. The company had eighty-two men in its ranks, 
but death cut a wide swath in its ranks. The climate 
robbed the country of more than half of its men. Some 
were killed in battle, so not more than one-half of the men 
returned, and some of those who did, came back, had 
the seeds of disease planted in their systems and soon died. 
In fact it is in all wars, those who return, come home to die 
or linger out the rest of their days in pain, so it is doubtful 
whether there will be a single Mexican soldier alive in two 
years from date. There were only six alive in 1898, and 
several have died since. Tom Watkins died only two years 
ago. He was more widely known than any of them. The 
capture of Santa Anna with a lot of treasure and the wooden 



History of Menard County. 225 

leg of Santa Anna, who was compelled to leave it in great 
haste to save his own person, was an episode of the war. 
Thomas L. Harris' name is mentioned in connection with 
this with several men from Pekin. As one of the results of 
the war, we acquired New Mexico and California, though 
we paid them $15,000,000 for the latter. It turned out 
to be a good investment, as the gold in California was dis- 
covered about that time. The slave power now ran mad and 
>t< ipped at nothing to extend their arena of slavery. In this 
they sealed their doom, as the last straw broke the camel's 
back, so things were carried to the point until the north arose 
in their right and said : ''Thus far shalt thou go and no 
farther.*' 

We have said that the first settlers of Menard were nat- 
ural born fighters. The}- came from fighting ancestors. 
Their sires came from Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia, 
and the way they settled their differences was to knock it 
out. Even to this day whole families are wiped out and in 
a few years the other family grows strong enough to wipe 
out the other family out. These things have existed for 
generations. In my childhood the military existed in Men- 
ard more than at the present time. With our schools for 
learning the ail of war. a citizen can he made into a soldier 
in a short space of time. I recollect when every person 
liable to military duty had to muster two days in each year. 
Andrew Moore of Indian Point was captain and a very im- 
portant man was he with a military suit on. He looked 
soldier like, but his most impressive toggery was an old silk 
hat caved in at the sides, with a red plume on top. Andy, 
with solemn mein, would give the word of command and the 
troops would automatically obey. Muster days which would 
come in August were red letter days. 

In the war of the rebellion, little Menard never had a 
draft, but furnished her quota of troops. It has been said, 
to her discredit, that she had many citizens who were op- 

15 



226 History of Menard County. 

posed to the war, but we know that Democrats and Re- 
publicans poured out about the same amount of their best 
blood on their country's altar to save the Union, and that 
all were patriotic in their own way, though they all could 
not see just alike. Menard had enrolled 1,084; killed in 
battle, 26; died of wounds, 19; killed by accident, 2; 
wounded, 26; died in prison, 8; died of disease, 129; de- 
serted, 50; total death from all causes, 184. A great 
many died on returning home from disease contracted 
during the war. "Our Country, right or wrong," although 
it would not hold good between neighbors, yet when ap- 
plied to our nation, has always been the rallying cry. The 
last war was right, the war ten years from now will be 
right, and we have men who will hurrah for the war 
fifty years from now. General Sherman said : "War means 
hell." In the destruction of property or life it means the 
wounding and maining of the youth of our land, and yet 
we hear it said every day that the war helps our business 
and our trade, and we don't care how long the war lasts, 
so we thrive by it. 



SOME EARLY SETTLERS 

Among the early settlements at Xew Market, Bellanl 
was the center. It competed for the court house. On the 
north side lived Russell Godby, a strong old Jackson Demo- 
crat, of dignified appearance, a man of good common 
sense. At all the Democratic meetings he was always 
elected chairman. He settled on the farm on which he died. 
The farm south of Ballard's was entered by my uncle, David 
Onstot, in 1824. He sold out to Coleman Smoot at an 
early day and moved to Taney county, Mo., giving up some 
of the finest land in Illinois for the mountainous county in 
Missouri. Uncle Dave was of a restless spirit, and when 
he had half a dozen neighbors in a half dozen miles, he 



History of Menard County. 227 

said the country was getting too thickly settled up for him. 
and he did not propose to be crowded out, so he emigrated. 
He had some enterprise and built a horse mill, run by an 
incline wheel. The reason he ga\'e for moving to Taney 
county. Mo., was that cattle could run out all winter with- 
out feed, the country being in the southern tier of counties. 
He made a trip back to Illinois in 1844, and was much sur- 
prised at the improvements in Menard county, and I think 
would have been glad could he have gotten back. Coleman 
Smoot lived on the farm till he died. His house was on a 
beautiful ridge next to the timber. He had a large 
orchard of fine apples and raised many hogs and cattle 
for market, and was considered in good circumstances, 
though he never gave up peddling apples. The last time 
we saw Coleman Smoot was at Cam]) Butler. He had a 
load of apples and a barrel of cider. The soldiers thought 
a rich man like Smoot ought to give them the apples free 
of charge, so when he was driving up a hill in the camp, 
they pulled out his end gate and his apples all run down 
the hill. He did not stop to pick them up but drove home 
with his barrel of cider. Smoot made a trip to St. Louis 
every spring, taking his bacon and surplus produce and 
bringing back his groceries and goods. He lived to a good 
old age. His son, William, was his only child. He built 
on the hill east of the old home, and still lives there. 

A half a mile west, past the edge of the timber, was 
one of the first settlers. William Sampson, another uncle 
of mine, an eccentric old man. Ili> house was a place for 
all the movers that were going north from Menard to 
Mason. They always aimed to get to Sampson's to stay 
all night. I don't think he ever charged them anything, 
50 his house was a popular resort. 1 think \ speak in 
bounds when 1 say that as many as forty persons have 
>tayed all night at Uncle Billy's. It was pretty hard on 
Aunt Hannah to make beds all over the floor for such a 
large crowd and also feed them, but Sampson had a large 



228 History of Menard County. 

amount of bread and meat and this crowd kept it from 
spoiling. Besides Sampson was a great talker and could 
learn a lot of news from these travelers. He had eight 
large stalwart boys and two girls, which made him a large 
family. He had come from Virginia in an early day and 
had first settled on the west side of the river near Shipley's, 
but after marrying, moved on the east side of the river where 
he lived till it got too thickly settled for him. He then 
moved down near Greenview. We said Sampson was ec- 
centric. A little anecdote will illustrate. He had a neigh- 
bor by the name of Rodgers whose wife died. Sampson 
and Rodgers were great friends, and at the funeral Samp- 
son and his friend had been imbibing a little too much, and 
while filling up the grave Rodgers gave Sampson a hunch 
and told him to get in the grave and tramp it. Sampson 
jumped down in the grave and commenced to tramp the dirt. 
The shovelers took him by the arm and helped him out. He 
was heartily ashamed of his work and it was a by-word in 
the community for a year, "Get it and tramp it." 

James Estill settled north of Sampson, and the place is 
known yet as the Estill place. About half way to Peters- 
burg and Indian Creek. This stream supplied power to a 
mill that both sawed lumber and ground meal. It was down 
in the hollow. The road both in the east and the west came 
down a very steep hill. The hill on the west must have 
been one hundred and fifty feet high. I once took a grist of 
corn there on horseback and when half way down the sack 
and I slipped over the horse's head. 

One of the old stand-bys of the county is Gus Riggins . 
first a school master, then circuit clerk for eight years. He 
lived to be an old bachelor, marrying when fifty years old. 
He has since resided on his farm, a well educated and in- 
telligent man, well versed in the affairs of the county, state 
and nation, fluent in conversation and an old time Demo- 
crat. He has for sixty years followed the party through 



History of Menard County. 229 

adversity and prosperity. Defeat only seemed to strengthen 
him in his principles. His name is a guarantee for integrity 
and honesty. 

A little farther south one of the solid men in his day 
was Nicholas Tice, a small, heavy set German, the father 
of John Tice. He always rode a sorrel mare, with a slit in 
the face. He was a funny little old man and the boys in 
Petersburg always had lots of fun with Mr. Tice. He 
would sometimes get a little jubilant, but was always in a 
good humor. A little farther south lived Andy Branson, a 
great talker. He would go to Salem Mill, riding on a grist 
of corn and on the way he would stop at my father's shop 
and talk the hat off your head. I recollect a case of absent- 
mindedness he showed. He came riding on his sack of meal, 
with his saddle tied on behind him. Father bought a bushel 
of his meal. He then put his saddle on his horse and the sack- 
on the saddle and started for home. In half an hour he 
came trotting in a great hurry up to the shop door, calling 
out to father, saying: "1 [enry, 1 lenry. I forgot my saddle." 
When he saw he was riding on it he rode away, somewhat 
crestfallen. 

Between Indian Creek and the Sangamon lived a num- 
ber of solid citizen^. They were John Jennison, Henry 
Clark. John Minor. George Curry. James Baxter, Abner 
Baxter, Sylvester Baker, McNabb and many others whose 
name> do not readily come to my mind. 

In the early days the mail was carried from Petersburg 
to Athens on horseback once a week. The Brooks boys car- 
ried it. It was a slim affair, as there were no papers printed 
then. The Illinois Journal and the State Register were the 
only papers in Springfield. Athens was in a rich country, 
but before the black diamonds were discovered, it did not 
assume must importance, as the farmers around there went 
to Springfield to do their trading. We well recollect being 
in Sprintield in 1835 an(1 tlie little brick court house - with 



230 History of Menard County. 

its cupola covered with tin, and ponds of water where the 
old state house stood. How changed Athens is now ; sur- 
rounded by the best population in Menard. Go to 
any country and the quality of the land determines the char- 
acter of the people. . 

A few miles brings us across the river into Wolf, the 
mouth of Rock Creek. The inhabitants of Wolf were from 
Kentucky and Tennessee and were wolfish in their nature 
when collected in large bodies. There were the Tibbs, the 
Wisemans, the Pembertons, the Hornbuckles, the Hohimers 
and the Duncans. The boundaries of Wolf were Rock 
Creek on the south, Sangamon on the east, Purkapile 
Branch on the north and the Springfield road on the west. 
Most of the early farms in W r olf were made in the barrens, 
as the timber was then called. Isaac Smerck, we recollect 
as the first settler, came from the lead mines in 1832. He 
brought $2,000 in clean cash and entered one hundred and 
sixtv acres of this grub land, and with a large ox team 
brought his land into cultivation. Any brush that the yoke 
could bend down the plow could break up. Smerck could 
have entered one thousand five hundred acres of the best 
prairie land in the country, but he thought that a man could 
not live on the prairie. His soil was only a few inches thick. 
Smerck had an ox that, when he was being unyoked, would 
jump back as quick as lightning. One time he struck his 
master in the face with his horn and came near killing him, 
and he was not able to work much after that. Smerck had 
a large lot of relatives on his wife's side that ate him out 
and he moved to Mason county; but they followed him up 
and he had to feed them as long as he lived. 

Jack Pemberton will be remembered as a fat, jolly man. 
He weighed two hundred and fifty pounds and was con- 
stable. He was a great story teller. After he moved to 
Mason county he was elected to the legislature. When the 
county seat was moved to Petersburg, old Man Purkapile 



History of Menard County. 231 

lived on the southwest corner and was a noted character. 
He was the father of James and George Purkapile. Being 
the seventh son, he was supposed to be endowed with cura- 
tive powers. Many children were taken to him to be cured 
of the rash and he, by simply blowing in their mouth, would 
effect a cure. Shirley's mill, near the mouth of Rock Creek, 
did a good business, and when there was water enough sawed 
lots of lumber. The old Menard House, in Petersburg. 
got its lumber from this mill, and many a grist of corn that 
made the dodger for the good housewife, came from Shir- 
ley's mill. But time has obliterated the last vistage of the 
mill, and not one stone has been left of the dam or mill. 
There were a number of families by the name of Miller 
that lived in Wolf, so many that they were distinguished 
by some title. ( )ne that was larger than the rest was known 
by the name of Greasy George Miller. They were all good 
tighter-. On the Springfield road, running south, were the 
Nances, the Winns and the Goldbeys. James Goldbey was 
the first sheriff of Menard count}- and was a very influential 
citizen as long as he lived. The Nances were also above the 
average in intelligence. Mrs. Parthena Hill was a >ister of 
Thos. Nance, while the Winns were a noted family. L. B. 
"Winn was elected to the legislature after he moved to 
Petersburg. These pioneers have long since moved to the 
Silent City and the second and third generations have taken 
their places. 

Rock Creek was early settled with an energetic class of 
people, the Cogdals on the west of the Springfield road. 
There were Elijah and Isaac Cogdal. Isaac was an all 
around man. He had a large stone quarry and burnt lime. 
He furnished the stone for the foundation of the old court 
house in Petersburg in [842, and ah the lime that was used 
in an early daw Isaac Cogdal was quite a noted politician 
and was always up for some office. He was a Whig. He 
had the misfortune to lose one arm in making a blast. He 



232 History of Menard County. 

was a tall, good looking- man, while his brother, Elijah, 
was a man of not much force, but a good citizen and a law- 
abiding man. West of Cogdals lived Osborne, a farmer in 
good circumstances. Robert Conover married one of his 
daughters for his second wife. 

We now come to Blacks. He had a number of girls and 
boys. His oldest daughter married Lige Taylor. Her name 
was Beckey. Sam was one of the boys. We were 
acquainted with a man by the name of Stephenson who lived 
near old Tarleton Lloyd. We cannot refrain from giving 
an incident in his life, "though perhaps we have mentioned it 
before. The first Mrs. Lloyd, having died, in due time 
Lloyd thought he might take another wife. So he fixed 
his affections on Catherine Keltner, of Salem, whose father 
kept the old tavern. She was a buxom lass of twenty sum- 
mers, a good worker. Though the Keltners were very poor, 
but respectable the marriage created great excitement and 
their neighbors contributed largely toward the wedding 
feast, some a few chickens, some a turkey, some a fat pig, 
some flour, until enough was brought in to make a royal 
dinner, and then the women brought in dishes and helped 
to cook the dinner. The Keltners were in high glee and they 
reasoned like this : Lloyd is sixty and may live fifteen or 
twenty years more, while Catherine is twenty and may live 
fifty years. At Lloyd's death Catherine will have a good 
home left her and plenty to live on. The argument looked 
very plausible, but alas, Catherine died at the age of sixty, 
after having raised a large family, while Lloyd lived to be 
one hundred and four years old. The Lloyd family appeared 
to be long lived, as some of the children of the first wife are 
still living. Near Lloyds lived Milo Wood, a harnessmaker. 
He owned a small farm and had a number of boys. Alex, 
one of his sons, was also a harnessmaker. Mack Woods, 
another son, went to the Mexican war and after his return 
was elected coroner. After he was qualified, James Taylor, 
who was sheriff died, and Wood was then sheriff, but in 



History of Menard County. 233 

settling up the accounts they did not pan out, and Wood was 
deposed from office. 

We now come to the the noblest Roman of them all. 
the Rev. John M. Berry, who did as much to civilize and 
christianize the central part of Illinois as any other living 
man. Tall and well formed, he stood like Paul among the 
prophets, head and shoulders above his brethren. He was 
a Cumberland Presbyterian minister, well versed in the 
doctrines of his church. Old John Berry, as he was 
familiarly called, worked hard on his farm six days in the 
week and on Sunday preached when he could get an 
audience. He was a great friend of Abraham Lincoln, and 
he was the cause of Lincoln taking his son into partnership, 
but Bill Berry turned out bad and became a drinking man 
and gambler, and died a total wreck. This nearly broke 
his father's he-art. and while he still preached, he always 
wore a solemn look and was seldom seen to smile. West 
of Berry's was the Rock Creek camp ground. As we have 
written that up in another part of this book, we will let 
that suffice. 

Elihu Bone lived near by. He deserves more than or- 
dinary mention. He had a large family of girls and boys. 
Jack Bone, his oldesl son, 1- still alive, though near ninety 
years old. Pie bought and marketed cattle in early days 
and sold his cattle in the St. Louis market. He has been 
in the Chicago Stock Yards at Chicago for forty years, but 
is now retired. Jack did not resemble any of the Bone 
family, being of medium height and dark complexioned, 
while the rest of the boys were tall and light complexioned. 
Several of the boys had red hair. Most of the boys settled 
around their father. Robert's house was close to the camp 
ground. He was an influential man. Elihu Bone once 
represented Menard county in the legislature, with credit 
to himself and his constituents. Elihu Bone was a very 
conscientious man. and though living in a community where 



234 History of Menard County. 

rowdyism was rampart, he never had any lawsuits or diffi- 
culties with his neighbors. In his dealings he was always 
conscientious and upright. The country would have been 
better off if all the early settlers had been men of Elihu 
Bone's character. There were the Combs, and the Yokums 
and the Pennys that lived on the south side of Rock Creek 
Coming north we find old Billy Green, the father of a large 
family of Greens. 

Ned Potter w f as one of the earliest pioneers of the coun- 
try. He was a large, jolly fellow. He had a good sugar 
camp and Mrs. Potter's maple sugar was legal tender for 
all debts, public or private. The timber in this locality 
was nearly half sugar trees. A little farther north was 
Felix Green, who was the oldest of the Green boys. 

Who in Menard county has not heard of Levi Summers 
and his grammatical style of talking? He murdered more 
of the English language than any other man in his day 
and his sayings are repeated in the county to this day. 
He had a large family, mostly girls. Fanny married Henry 
Balls, Esther married Hardin Bale, but Uncle Levi always 
bet on his son, Jimmy. About a half mile east lived one 
of the best known men in Menard county, Cousin Mentor 
Graham, who taught in nearly every district in the county 
after it was organized. He was a peculiar man. The 
writer went to school to him, first at the Baptist Church 
at Felix Green's ; next in Salem, then at the house east of 
his farm. He taught over fifty years. If Cousin Mentor 
took a liking to a scholar, he fared well, if not, the scholar 
had a hard time of it. Cousin Mentor believed, in govern- 
ing a school by force. He always kept a lot of good 
switches on hand would often call up a scholar and make 
him hold out his hand and, with his rule, lay on the licks 
until the scholar would beg for mercy. Graham was well 
versed in the common branches of the English language. 
Graham raised a large family, mostly girls, who married 



History of Mexard County. 235 

well and settled in the county. North of Grahams was 
Tom Watkins, but as our account of him will be found in 
another part of the book we will give him a rest. 

Across the prairie, west, we make a jump, as the prairies 
were not settled in pioneer days. George Spears is the 
central figure. He built a brick house before we were born. 
Spears was one of the early settlers. As soon as the howling 
wolf had left the grove or some time before and ere the 
Indian yell had died away, the hardy emigrant had pitched 
his rude cabin and was ready for the battle. The early 
fathers were a brave and hardy race. Spears was a man 
well fitted for a new country, strong in body, cool in judg- 
ment. He was not at a lo^s to settle all the questions that 
might arise. Spears had a large family, who. in turn, raised 
large families. Robert Conover was another man of in- 
fluence. I le was a close neighbor of Spears'. In his latter 
days lie bought the Bennett Able place near Petersburg. 
Then there was the Bells, several of them, Abraham, Isaac. 
Silas. James; these we have named were all good, sober, 
reliable citizens, who gave character to the grove. There 
was the Whites, old Jimmy White was the oldest of them. 
1 le was elected to the legislature one term. 1 le was honest, 
but eccentric. If he had a hill to introduce, he would make 
a shorl speech, telling what an advantage it would be to the 
country. The members of the early legislature were made 
up of honest fanners, while today it is composed of third 
class law vers and burners, wh< 1 w< »uld sell their grandmothers 
for a mess of potatoes. 

John Kiner lived near where Tallula is now located. He 
was not a large farmer, did not own more than one hundred 
and forty acres, lie was a son-in-law of White Kinner and 
depended a great deal on his orchard. He had the finest 
Bellflower apples in the county and always brought them to 
town in sacks to the great disgust of the boys, who could not 
sample them. 



236 History of Menard County. 

Col. Judy is an old citizen of great energy and has a great 
reputation throughout Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri as an 
auctioneer of fine stock. North of Clary's Grove we come to 
a little old man, who was the central figure in Petersburg 
in the "forties" — Jesse Gum. He had a large tract of 
good farm land and raised a large number of big boys, big 
stalwart fellows, that could throw a two-year-old Texas 
steer over the fence by the tail, but Uncle Jesse's best hold 
was peddling. He had a cart and a small yoke of oxen. 
His main articles of trade were honey and sweet potatoes. 
Uncle Jesse always endeavored to impress the people with 
the idea that honey and sweet potatoes were mightly scarce. 
After he had sold out his load and trade a little he would 
take his seat in the cart, and the black steers would head 
for home without a driver. A little further north lived 
Uncle Johnny Watkins, Gaddie Davis, Joe Watkins and 
Lige Jones, more familiarly known as old Snag. There 
were three of the Jones boys, Lige, Bill and John. Old 
Snag always called his wife Fattie. Lige Jones was a good 
neighbor, but a very profane man and addicted to the 
use of liquor. His team finally ran away and killed him. 
The Jones were all tall, good looking men, and were 
•fighters, though Gaines Green, when only a boy, whipped 
Bill Jones at a race at Joe Watkins' track. John Jones 
was a fiddler and ground out the music of the cat gut at 
many a dance in Menard county. He finally moved to Iowa. 
The Jones could always be found at Petersburg. 

Tom Dowels was a quiet man and had the respect of his 
neighbors. He did not farm very extensively, and had 
plenty of boys to do his work. Then in the same community 
lived the Bonds and Arnolds and the Arterberrys. Old 
Daniel Arterberry was a tall, raw boned man, who had a 
tremendous grip in his hand, and if you were not careful in 
shaking hands with him, he would crush every bone in your 
hand. He had such powerful strength in his hand that he 



History of Mexard County. 237 

made every fellow afraid of him. Daniel Arterberry was 
well known all over the county as a good law-abiding citizen. 
There were numerous families of the Arterberry's and to this 
day the village of Arterberry derives its name from some 
of these descendants. 

We will now swing around to the Miller's Ferry, where, 
in 1846. lived Peter Ellmore. He was a jolly, good natured 
old fellow, unlettered, and could neither read nor write, but 
gathered up what information he could from his surround- 
ings. We often stopped with Uncle Peter over night as a 
half way house between Havana and Petersburg, and 
always found him in an inquisitive mood. "Where have 
you been?" said he. We told him "out to Springfield." 
"Is the legislater sitten?" he would ask, and then we would 
tell him a long story about what they were doing, and 
Uncle Peter would say. "The Lord deliver us." Miller's. 
Ferry, where Uncle Peter lived, was once surveyed for a 
town and was called Huron. My brother, R. J., has a plat 
of n in Abraham Lincoln's own handwriting and prizes it 
very highly.- The town looks very tine on paper, though 
there was only one house in it in its earliest days. I\. 
Watkins is now the sole owner of Huron, "and is monarch 
of all he surveys." 

Concord was settled in an early day. Samuel Berry, a 
brother of John M. Berry, James Pantier, William Rut ledge, 
Reason Shipley, Jack Clary and Rile Armstrong were the 
first settlers. Jack Clary first settled at Clary's Grove, but 
was living at Concord as far back as I can recollect. He- 
had a large family of boys, of which Rile Clary is the oldest. 
Samuel Berry lived south of Concord Church, was a very 
religious man and could exhort as well as any of the 
preachers. He was a very solemn man. and seldom laughed 
or cracked a joke. William Rutledge was one of the large 
family of Rutledges. His son. McGrady, died two years 
ago. He was over eighty years old. Reason Shipley 



^38 



History of Menard County. 



lived north, near the Sangamon river. George Kirby lived 
a few miles farther north than Squire Masters. We met 
Kirby and Masters two years ago. They were both eighty - 
six and were both strong for that age. 




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CHAPTER XXIII. 



CITY OF PETERSBURG 

MONG the early settlers of Petersburg were the 
Taylors, John Wamsing, the Davidsons, Ches- 
ter Moon, Charles Brooks. Martin Morris, the 
Colbys, George Warberton, Peter Lukins, A. 
1). Wright, Dr. John Allen. Dr. Bennett, Henry Onstot, 
fames and William Hoeys. The Bennetts came from old 
Virginia. James Carter came from Virginia, lie was a 
cabinetmaker. Jacob Lanning came from New Jersey in 
[838. The Canning family still live in and around Peters- 
burg. John McNamer lived in Salem and after its decline 
moved to his farm north of town. Chas. B. Waldo was the 
village schoolmaster. I [e and Nathan Dresser were brother- 
in-laws. Dresser was the first circuit clerk. George C 
Miles was a prominent merchant with his wife's brother, 
James McCoy. Martin Morris was a fine blacksmith. 
Robert Bishop was a gunsmith and served in the Mexican 
war. George Warberton and Peter Lukins were at one 
time the proprietors of the town. They both were addicted 
to drink. Lukins went by taking an overdose of poison. 
I le was "lie of three brothers, Jesse and < Gregory , being the 
other two. We stated in another chapter that Gregory died 
in Sugar Grove. In this we are mistaken, as he died in 
Topeka, Mason county, about ten years ago. The Brahms 
settled north of Petersburg. They were Germans and at 
one time, with John Wamsing, were the only Germans in 



240 History of Menard County. 

the county, with the exception of Peter Himmel, who lived 
in Petersburg one year before — he moved to Mason county. 
The Colbys were wagonmakers and had their shop on the 
branch just north of the Charter Oak mills. 

The Bales lived at Salem till Hardin moved his ma- 
chine to Petersburg in 1841, on the west side of the street 
from Onstot's cooper shop. Jacob Bale first lived west of 
Petersburg. The Bales appeared to be adapted to the run- 
ning of machinery. Aaron B. White was a carpenter and 
builder, and finally studied theology and made the discussion 
of baptism his hobby. William McNeely and his brother, 
Tilton, were prominent citizens of the county. William 
was a bricklayer and plasterer and lived in Salem when 
it was in its glory. He then moved out to the prairie west 
of Salem, but for forty years was a resident in the suburbs 
of Petersburg. Thos. McNeely was a son of Tilton's, who 
was a merchant. These persons comprise most of the early 
settlers around Petersburg. 

Petersburg is beautifully situated on the west bank of 
the Sangamon river, where the Chicago & Alton crosses the 
Sangamon. It was first called the Springfield & North- 
western. Since the advent of railroads the glory of the 
Sangamon has departed. The river is spanned with numer- 
ous bridges, which are built without draws, and could 
not be navigated even were there plenty of water. 

Petersburg has many fine residences on the bluffs which 
belong, we are told to lawyers. "They toil not, neither do 
they spin, yet Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed 
like one of these." No discredit to lawyers. Peter Lukins 
and George Warberton did not have much success in sell- 
ing Petersburg town lots, so they sold out to John Tay- 
lor and Hezekiah King, who infused new life into the 
town and it began to grow. Lots sold high. My father 
paid $300 for two lots, that had a branch running through 
them at an angle. As Petersburg grew, Old Salem dimin- 



History of Menard County. 241 

ished. The trade that Hill had in Salem was transferred 
to the Taylors and Bennetts and Hoeys at Petersburg, 
and the trade that went to Springfield also went to Peters- 
burg. There was no trading point on the north until Ha- 
vana was reached. Abraham Lincoln re-surveyed Peters- 
burg and had the plat recorded February 22, 1836. The 
t< >w 11 was named for Peter Lukins. Warberton wanted it 
called Georgetown. They finally agreed to play a game of 
old pledge. Lukins won and the town was called Peters- 
burg. 

The first lawyer was David M. Rutledge, a brother of 
Anna Rutledge, who was engaged to marry Lincoln, bin 
whose untimely death prevented the consummation of the 
contract. Dr. Bennett was the first practicing physician. 
The first school was taught by Charles li. Waldo. It was 
taught in [837 in the south part of town in a log cabin. 
A frame schoolhou>e was built in 1 S40 on the hill south oi 
Dr. Allen's, h was out in the ha/el brush and was reached 
by circuitous paths. 

Tallula is situated in the extreme part of the county and 
is a prosperous town. It was laid out in 1857 by W. G. 
Green, J. G. Green, Richard Yates, Theodore Baker and 
W. G. Spears. Tallula is in the renter of the first settle- 
menl of Menard county. Jack Clary was the first man. lie 
settled upon the farm that George Spears lived on so long. 
Clary then moved to Concord, where he lived half of a cen- 
tury. The Whites and Hells lived in the suburbs of Tallula 
sixty years ago. Tallula was a line grain and stock market 
from the start and the country was thickly settled. The 
farms were of the finest soil. 

Away in the north part of the county lies Oakford. It 
was laid out in [872. Located on the Springfield and 
Northwestern Railroad. It has no competition on the north 
until Kilbourne is reached. None south till Petersburg is 
reached, which is ten miles away. None on the west till 

16 



242 History of Menard County. 

you come to Chandlerville. None on the east till you come 
to Greenview. The proprietors of the town were William 
Oakford and William Colson. The land belonged to Colsori 
and he gave Oakford one-half of the town for securing the 
railroad. The town lies a few miles below Miller's Ferry, 
which had been used for fifty years as a crossing from 
Springfield to Havana. At one time the county seat ques- 
tion was to be settled, a town was laid out at Miller's Ferry 
called Huron, but when that question was settled, Huron 
went into liquidation. William Oakford built the first store- 
room. In the summer of 1872 Cal Arterberry opened a 
general store. Sutton Bros, finally bought out the store 
and then sold out to Sam Watkins. In 1873 S. A. Bennett 
started a drug store, so the business houses in Oakford kept 
changing hands. Oliver Maltby and J. W. Walker started 
a harness shop. C. P. Smith run a confectionery store. J. 
S. Carter, from Petersburg, run a furniture store, but closed 
it out and run a saloon. Gilbert Skaggs built the first 
blacksmith shop. The village started on the road to pros- 
perity, but soon relapsed into a state of inoccuous disuetude. 
A murder was committed here in 1879, in which James 
McElhe lost his life at the hands of A. J. McDonald. 
There was a good farming country around Oakford. The 
Sangamon bottom north of the town is the finest land in the 
world, but subject to overflow on the west. The pecan 
bottom was settled away back in the "thirties." Robison 
Mills was long and favorably known as the center of trade. 
Oakford is the only town in the county that has no 
coal shaft. "The black diamonds" have not been unearthed. 
If there is any coal in the town or vicinity it is so deep that 
it would not be profitable to mine it. The hills and bluffs 
around Oakford extend for miles and on the Sangamon 
river it seems as if the mound builder that inhabited the 
country before the Indian had become an extinct race 
and had left nothing to explain the building of the mounds, 



History of Mexard County. 243 

so a person has to imagine and speculate as to what kind of 
a race they were. One thing we know, they must have 
been a very industrious race to have built the chain of 
mounds from the mouth of Salt Creek to the mouth of the 
Sangamon. 

We will now cross the river and land at Greenview. This 
town was laid out in a pioneer day on the Chicago and 
Alton Railroad at the northwest corner of Sugar Grove. It 
may be well termed the Gem of the Prairie. If one of the 
early settlers of Sugar Grove had been told that in the 
latter part of the nineteenth century a busy bustling young 
city should spring up in the open prairie, where the Indians 
once held undisputed sway, where the wolves made night 
hideous with their noise, he would have listened with in- 
credulity. The country around Greenview was settled in 
an early day. It was laid out by Win. Engall. -October 
2, 1857. The land was once owned by Chas. Montgomery. 
It- name was in honor of W. G. Goken, a prominent 
Menard county farmer. The first house was built by Robt. 
McReynolds. James Stone put up the second. The first 
brick house was built by John Wilkinson and was converted 
into a hotel. < >ne of the first business houses was built by 
McReynolds, the two firsl stores were McReynolds and 
Meyer Bros. Silas Beekman had a store before the rail- 
road was built. The first hotel was kept by John Wilkin- 
son. The first blacksmith shop was built by Jacob Propse. 
rhe first doctors were Davis and Calloway. The first grain 
merchant was Harvey Yeaman. 

< rreenview is a great grain center. Most of the corn is 
\v(\ to cattle and hogs, while a large amount of wheat is 
annually shipped and a large amount of -lock is shipped to 
Chicago. Greenview, since the mining of coal, is a place 
of great importance. Several hundred tons are daily raised 
and shipped to the surrounding towns. The coal is said 
to be of a superior quality. Its coal interest is what gives 



244 History of Menard County. 

Greenview its commercial importance, as it gives employ- 
ment to a large number of workmen, who in turn, spend 
their money in the town. A large public square is located 
in the heart of the town, which helps its looks. 

Sweetwater, in the northeastern part of the Grove, was 
once a place of prominence. In the days when Bill Engle 
was a power in the community. Engle was a great trader. 
He kept country store and went to St. Louis or New Or- 
leans once a year. He would gather up the produce and 
have it hauled to Beardstown, then have it shipped south 
and then go down and sell it and bring back groceries. We 
may have related the big onion crop that Bill raised one 
year, but will tell it again. He had been to New Orleans 
one fall and saw red onions selling at two dollars per 
bushel. He bought enough seed to sow eight acres. He had 
eight acres of pasture land that was very rich and he planted 
them. He raised a large crop and he housed two thousand 
bushel. My father had made him three hundred barrels to> 
ship them in but that fall onions would not pay the freight, 
and Engle had to sell them out to his neighbors at ten cents 
per bushel and had plenty of onions left. Coal is also mined 
at Sweetwater, there being no way of shipping it by rail, it 
supplies the wagon trade. There was a splendid body of 
timber in the grove in an early day. Large walnut trees 
were cut in the grove. The gunnels of a house boat, that 
was to run on the Sangamon, were gotten out in Sugar 
Grove. But the machinery loaded down the boat and it had 
no power to stem the current in ascending the river. 

The village of New Market existed only on paper. It 
was laid out by Dr. Ballard and a man by the name of 
Spears. Ballard put up a large two-story house, intended 
for a hotel, but it was never needed. Clarke opened up a 
store, Sanders and Rodgers a blacksmith shop. With the 
location at Petersburg it dwindled away in to nothingness. 
The place is now occupied by Aunt Nancy Rule as a farm. 



Histop-y of Menard County. 245 

ATHENS 

The village of Athens is situated in the southeastern part 
of the county, and next to Salem and Petersburg is the 
oldest town within the bounds of Menard county. The 
village site is a level plain and the country around it is the 
most prosperous land in the state. 'Wood and coal are found 
in inexhaustible quantities. The coal lies within one hundred 
feet of the top of the ground. The town of Athens was 
surveyed and platted. In laying out the town forty acres 
were platted and additions from time to time have been 
made. Two cabins were built. One for a residence, the 
other for a blacksmith shop, by a man named Charge. Col. 
Matthew Rodgers built the first house of any importance. 
John Overstreet was the first merchant of the village, hav- 
ing purchased the stock oi Harry Rig-gins. Jonathan Dunn 
was the second merchant of the village. In 1833 Harry 
Riggins and Amberry Rankin opened a store, but soon sold 
out to Martin Morgan. James 1 >. Allen and Simon Clark 
were the next merchants. In [839 Sebastian Stone became 
a partner of Allen's and remained in business for some time. 
The goods in those days were all hauled from St. Louis by 

team- and it took several days to make the trip. The 
arrival of a tew loads of goods was a great event of the 
day. The people came from far and near to see these new 
goods. Athens had from the start to compete with Spring- 
field in competition with the trade. It was not until the 
opening up of the coal interest that Athens began to leap 
forward in the race for mercantile supremacy. In the year 
of 1S34 Overstreet ground up a flat-boat of flour and in 
company with Jesse and David Hunt shipped it to Xew 
Orleans. In early days Athens was noted for its pottery 
fact' 'tie-. Crocks and jugs were manufactured and sent in 
peddler wagons all over the state for sale. All kinds of 
produce were taken in exchange and farmers all around 



246 History of Menard County. 

Athens when they wanted to raise a little money they 
would go to Athens and get a load of crockery and return 
with the produce and trade. Money was scarce and trade 
and barter were the order of the day. So the pioneers of 
early days, while they had to submit to many privations, 
were a happy people and contented with their lot. 

Up the Sangamon river, south of Miller's Ferry, K. 
Watkins holds the fort. While on the east of the road to 
Petersburg lives Squire Masters and George Kirby, both well 
up to ninety years old. Reason Shipley lived near the 
river. A little farther south was the old Concord Church, 
around which lived James Pantier, William Rutledge, 
Samuel Berry and a score of the Clarys, while on the San- 
gamon river lived Anno Ritter. Here is where my father 
would buy a dozen white oak trees in the spring for stave 
timber and cut them in the spring when the bark would 
peel and get enough bark off the trees to pay for them. 
Anno Ritter was surveyor of Menard county for one term 
and died on his farm and was a respected citizen. 

Gregory Lukins lived in the "forties" between Ritter's 
and Petersburg on the Harris place. 



A LETTER FROM H. L. ROSS 

Mr. T. G. Onstot: 

I understand you are getting up a history of Menard 
and Mason counties. I thought I might be able to render 
you some assistance in getting up the history of Mason 
county, as there is probably few men now living who know 
as much about the history of Mason as myself. 

Mason county was originally a part of Tazewell, and 
my father, O. M. Ross, in all probability built the first 
'house and ploughed the first land in the county. In 1821 
he moved from St. Clair county to what is now Fulton 



248 History of Menard County. 

county. In 1822 he built a hoitse in Havana on the bank 
of the Illinois river, where the city of Havana now stands. 
At that time he established a ferry across the river. The 
nearest ferry on the south was at Beardstown and on the 
north at Peoria at Fort Clark. He engaged a man to 
build a house and run the ferry for him, and gave him 
one-half of the proceeds and the use of twenty acres of 
land. At that time the land had not yet come into market, 
but was government land, but in 1827 Ross entered one 
thousand acres of land at $1.25 per acre. The land lay 
up and down the river, including the land where Havana 
now stands. It also included the land where Bath stands. 
O. M. Ross moved from Fulton county to Havana in 1826 
and built the Havana Hotel, and opened up a farm of two 
hundred acres east of Havana. The Indians had settled 
up and down the river in great numbers. Wigwams could 
be numbered by the hundreds. The squaws would cultivate 
a few patches of ground, which they would dig up and 
plant in corn, beans and other vegetables, while the In- 
dians hunted and trapped. At that time all the county 
north of the Sangamon and south of the Mackinaw and 
east of the Illinois river for fifteen miles was a vast plain, 
where horses and droves of deer roamed at will. There 
were but two roads laid out then, one running from Ha- 
vana to Springfield, which crossed the Sangamon at Miller's 
ferry, fifteen miles south of Havana. This road ran through 
Salem and Sangamontown. The other road crossed Salt 
Creek, and ran through Athens, and crossed the Sangamon 
four miles north of Springfield. In 1829 there was not a 
house between Miller's Ferry and Havana, nor between 
the ferry at Salt Creek and Havana. In 1831, John Mounts 
and John Yardly settled on the road leading from Havana 
to Miller's Ferry, not far from Crane Creek. Mounts 
settled on the west side and Yardly on the east side. 
Mounts built a mill on Crane Creek, which was the first 



History of Menard County. 249 

mill in Mason county. The next mill was built by Pal- 
lard Simmons on Quiver Creek, five miles northeast of 
Havana. In 1838, this Simmons, who is the same man who 
lived near Salem in former years, on one occasion while 
there, met John Calhoun, the county surveyor. Calhoun 
informed Simmons that he had decided to appoint Lin- 
coln as deputy surveyor, if he would accept the appoint- 
ment. The next day Simmons went to Salem and inquired 
for Mr. Lincoln, and was told he was working in the 
woods. Simmons found him working at his old occupa- 
tion making rails. They both sat down on a log and 
Simmons told Lincoln what Calhoun had said. Mr. Lin- 
coln was surprised that Calhoun should appoint him his 
deputy, when he was a Henry Clay Whig and Calhoun 
was a Jackson Democrat, but Lincoln said that as soon as 
he got the rails made, he would go to Springfield and see 
Calhoun about it. so in a few days he walked to Spring- 
field to see Mr. Calhoun and told him that he would ac- 
cept the appointment if he had the assurance that it would 
not interfere 111 any way with his political obligations and 
that he might be permitted to express his opinions as freely 
as lie chose. The assurance was given and he received the 
app< dntmnt. 

The next man that settled on the road to Miller's Ferry 
was Gibson Garrett, lie settled on the edge of the timber 
nine miles south of Havana, near where the village of 
Kilbourne stands. 

The first settlers of Havana in [830 were John Bash, 
Carle Armstrong, Sylvester Whipple, A. B. Shafer, Ben- 
jamin Huh. Bethilt Roberts, John Nettleman and Robert 
( '1 irsea. 

Xettleman was a Frenchman and ran a keel boat on the 
Illinois river for two years, hi the spring of 1830 he 
piloted the steamboat Liberty from St. Louis to Peoria, 
which was the first boat that ran up the Illinois as far as 
1 lavaua. 



250 History of Menard County. 

The Indians that first settled near Havana and up and 
down the river were friendly and appeared to want to live 
peaceably with the whites, if fairly treated, but if imposed 
on, would fight. They had several burying places on the 
bluff near Havana. One of them was the mounds below 
Havana, the other was the mounds above Havana. The 
Indians regarded the burying places of their dead with 
great reverence, and any desecration of them would cause 
great hostility among them, and the perpetrator, if found 
out, would be severely dealt with. There was a little cir- 
cumstance connected with this that we will relate and that 
nearly terminated in a tragedy. John N. Ross, a brother 
of O. M. Ross, who had been residing in Kentucky for 
a couple of years, was married to the daughter of a wealthy 
slave holder of that state, and as he was a Quaker and 
strongly opposed to slavery, he and his young wife moved 
to Illinois and stopped at Havana and bought eighty acres 
where the bluff and river came together, upon which the 
two mounds stood. The mounds stood about fifty feet 
apart, and John Ross and his young wife were well pleased 
with the location for a dwelling and determined to build 
a house on it between the two mounds on the river, which 
would give them a handsome view up and down the river. 
He had a carpenter at work on it and they had it almost 
finished when a company of hunters and trappers came over 
from Fulton county and commenced to dig and desecrate 
the mounds. It happened that seven years before one of 
the chiefs had lost by death two of his children, a son and 
daughter, and they had been buried in the north mound. 
It was the custom to bury a number of articles with their 
dead male Indians, such things as a tomahawk, a large 
knife and a bow and arrow, and with the squaws many 
articles of wearing apparel, silver bracelets, strings of beads, 
etc. 



History of Menard County. 251 

These hunters dug open the graves of this young Indian 
and his sister and carried away all they wanted, and when 
the old chief found out that his children's graves had been 
desecrated and many of the articles buried with them had 
been carried away also, his anger was aroused to the high- 
est pitch. He gathered together a number of the principal 
Indians and was ready to start out on the war-path, but 
he came to Havana to see O. M. Ross about the matter, 
with whom he had always been on friendly terms. Ross 
told him that he would do all in his power to find out the 
perpetrators and have them brought to justice. It was 
found that the men lived on the other side of the river 
and that the people on the Havana side of the river had 
nothing to do with it. They became more reconciled, but 
if the men could have been found who desecrated the graves, 
they would, in all probability, have been killed by the In- 
dians for what had taken place. J. X. Ross became so 
alarmed, that his wife was not willing to live in the place, 
so he moved back to Kentucky, and the place was never 
occupied until the [ndians moved out of the country. 

Harvey Lee Ross. 



Ristory of mason County 




CHAPTER XXIV. 

ASON COUNTY was one of the last counties 
in Central Illinois that was opened up for set- 
tlement, although there were portions of it on 
which white men. in an early day. had made 
some improvements. Havana had white men. who, in 
early times, had cast their lots among the red men and to 
whose ears the howling of the wolf was music. The county 
is ill-shaped, with a forty mile frontage on the Illinois, 
river and only a few mile- of that suitable for building 
purposes on the west. On the south the Sangamon river 
and Salt Creek form the natural boundaries, running to a 
narrow point at its southern boundary and widening out 
at its northern boundary. It might well be called the county 
between the two rivers, hemmed in as it were by natural 
boundaries, except the northeastern corner, where a stretch 
of the best laud in the county lies. From the Mackinaw 
to Salt Creek you can shake hands across a strip of county 
twenty-five miles long. 

The land in Mason county might have been, in an early 
dav, divided into three classes; first the timber lands that 
lav up high. They were very sandy and were covered with 
a scrubby growth of timber, ddiere was not much under- 
growth, as the annual forest fires kept that down. Most of 



^54 History of Mason County 

the trees left standing had the tops blown off and were 
hollow and hundreds of swarms of bees were taken out 
•every fall. In these forests the wild deer roamed at will 
and hunters from Menard would come every fall and load 
down their wagons with venison and wild honey. These 
forests, in an early day, furnished the hardy pioneers with 
timber for rails to fence their farms, for it was not thought 
that a man could live on the bleak prairie without shelter, 
so the pioneer came and made his small clearing in the 
brush, where the land was poor and yielded only a small 
return for the labor bestowed. The forest fires were a 
sure thing every fall, even before the grass had dried up. 
Another class of land was what might be called the 
swamp or wet lands. There was a large body of these lands 
at the head of Quiver Valley. They extended from Slicky 
Bill Green's on the west, to Delavan and Aliens Grove on 
the east and were fifty thousand acres in extent. They 
could be farmed in a dry season, but in a moderately wet 
season the farmer could only work between showers, and 
a July freshet would drown out the farmer's labor' for 
the season and he was often compelled to buy corn from 
his neighbors, who lived on higher ground, to tide over 
another summer, perhaps of the same kind, so that in the 
course of a few years the farmer would have to move, 
worse off than when he commenced. The second division 
of swamp land might be called the Crane Creek division, 
commencing west of Red Oak Grove and running west to 
Crane Creek timber, thence south to Crane Creek. These 
lands were of the same quality, except they had not the 
fall of the Quiver Valley land, which was four feet to the 
mile. The third division was the Bull's Eye prairie land 
of the same quality and kind as the other divisions. Their 
water also went to Crane Creek. The next great body oi 
swamp land lay southeast of Havana, commencing south 
of Black Jack Grove and running to the Sangamon and 
Illinois rivers. 



History of Mason County 255 

The first merchant was Ross. There was a wing built 
on the north side of his hotel, probably one hundred feet 
long, but about fourteen feet wide. There were shelves 
on the south side. Walker and Hancock occupied this 
building with a stock of goods and did a large business 
for years, until they built a more commodious house on 
Market street, on the north side and nearer the river. 
Steiners also occupied this building as also did Hurt and 
McKendree, who were in the building when it burned in 
1849. Brown was keeping the hotel when it burned one 
Sunday night. The Havana Hotel has been described in 
another part of the book. It was the largest hotel in 
Central Illinois when built. Across, on the north side of 
Market Street, on the corner, was where George Robin- 
son kept store. It was a one story building. He kept 
store in the front of the building and lived in the back 
part. Robinson kept a stock of goods that suited the 
people who lived across the river. They went by the name 
of Bottomites. Whisky was an article they all had to have 
and Robinson always kept it. Robinson was a very large, 
fleshy man. but not quite so fat as his son George. A 
little farther west was Thornberg' s saloon. It stood on the 
spot where the Block House was built in an early day. 
Eli Thornberg had a large family. Fred was the oldest, 
lie did not live out his day, as he was addicted to drink 
and was very abusive. One day John Henry Norris, who 
lived mi Crane Creek, came to town and Fred attacked 
him till Xorris sent his knife in his abdomen and killed 
him. Thornberg had a very bright daughter, named Mary 
Jane, and a boy John. After keeping saloon for a few 
years, he moved to Arkansas. The next store on the west 
was Walker & Hancock's. This was one of the most 
complete stores ever kept in Havana. They carried every- 
thing to eat and everything to wear. They had a large 
territory to draw from, from Lewistown and Bernadotte 



256 History of Mason County 

on the west their trade extended to Salt Creek, Crane 
Creek, Allen's Grove and south to Kilbourne, and to Coon 
Grove on the north. It was no unusual thing to see a 
dozen wagons camp over night, after hauling in their 
produce. We recollect seeing a shipment of forty hogs- 
head of sugar unloaded at one time and some of it lay on 
the levee part of the summer. Hancock lived at St. Louis 
and picked up all the bargains that were in sight and re- 
ceived the grain that Walker shipped and sold it. This 
store, though large and commodious, soon got to be too 
small and they built another, larger, just north of the 
bridge. This building was fifty by one hundred and fifty, 
and three stories high. The upper story was used as a store 
room. This building soon was too small and they built 
a very large brick one on Railroad Street, just south of 
Tettee's mill. This building was devoted to merchandise. 
Walker & Hancock did business throughout the war but, 
as they had money invested in steamboats, the close of 
the war so depreciated their property that they had to quit 
business. Walker went to Peoria and did business till his 
death. The poor man never had a better friend than 
George N. Walker. Just west of Walker's, and next to the 
river, was Alex Stewart's. He was an Irishman and came 
to Havana as mate on the Navigator, a steamboat that Asa 
Langford traded town lots in Waterford for. Alex 
Stewart lived in Havana for over fifty years and accumu- 
lated considerable property. He, like Robinson, kept a 
stock of goods suited to the trade across the river, the 
chief article of which was whisky, and they, in turn, 
brought the produce raised on the river bottom, such as 
cord wood, fence rails, clap boards, hickory nuts, black- 
berries and lumber from the saw mill at Waterford. 

Farther south, on the high bluff, on the west side of 
the river was where Cyvenus Andrews kept store. He 
was a brother-in-law to N. J. Rockwell. Andrews also had 



History of Mason County 2^j 

a fine trade with the people across the river. He kept a 
variety store. His stock would not now be considered 
complete. He also kept whisky, as did every other mer- 
chant in the town, except Walker & Hancock, and to their 
credit it may be said that they never dealt in distilled 
damnation. Andrews also bought corn. He had a little 
crib that held three hundred bushels of ear corn, and 
when he got it full he would have it beat out. He had a 
frame six feet long and three feet wide, with side boards 
and slats across the bottom. It would be filled with corn 
and then with clubs or an old axe. the corn would be 
pounded, the shelled corn going through the slats, while 
the cobs could not get through. A good able bodied man 
could shell fifty bushels a day if he kept busy. I used 
to take the contract for shelling Andrew's corn. N. J. 
Rockwell kept store on the lot where George Myer's house 
now stands. He was one of the earliest merchants of 
Havana. His store was fourteen by thirty, with shelve-: 
on one side. Rockwell was a perfect gentleman and, 
though not an office seeker, held several office- from the 
people. He had a fair trade. He also sold whisky with 
Peruvian bark, just to cure the chills, lie finally moved 
back to Xew York, where he came from, and died there. 
He made a gift to Havana to perpetuate his name, and 
Rockwell Park, in the north part of Havana, will long be 
known as a gift from X. J. Rockwell. The Hurd 
Brothers kept store just north of the city hall. There were 
three brothers, Alvador, William and Samuel. They are 
all dead, except Samuel, who. at last accounts, was living in 
Fulton county. ( )ne of the first blacksmith shops was owned 
by Amos < ranson. He was a tall, hue looking man and was a 
good smith. His shop was on the northwest corner of the 
public square, where the laundry stands. Ganson had two 
boys. William and San ford, and a gill named Harriett Ann. 
Ganson was very choice in the beaux that came to see his 

17 



258 History of Mason County 

daughter, and a young man had to get on the right side 
of the old man before he could pay his respects to the 
daughter. Ganson had three hundred and twenty acres of 
as fine land as there is in Mason county. Egypt is now known 
as Spait's farm. He afterward moved to Egypt and finally 
near Decatur and left his wife. Ganson was of a roving 
disposition and never stayed long enough at one place to 
get acquainted with the people. John Harpham kept a 
grocery store on Market Street, near where Myer's store 
is. Dr. Loveland built on the corner west of the bank. 
It was, when built, the best house in the town. Loveland 
was a small man and very precise. He had a lot of land 
south of Bishop Station that was very good land. The 
doctor's store was a two-story building and he rented 
the store room to Hiram Cleaver. The upper story was 
rented to the county for a court room, till the new court 
house was finished. The court was held under Judge 
Treat and the lawyers held high carnival in Loveland's 
building. The court house was two years in building, and, 
when built, was considered a creditable house. It finalh 
burnt down and another one was built that resembled the 
old one, but now compared with the modern court house 
is an eye sore to the community. Across, on the opposite 
corner, where Allen's drug store stands, was a two-story 
frame building, in which Robert Walker and George Lang- 
ford opened up a general merchandise business. It was 
terminated by the death of Robert Walker. He was a son 
of James Walker and a brother of George Walker. These 
merchants, whom we have mentioned, did not keep as large 
stores as the merchants of today, nor did the people need 
as much. Their wants were not so great as now. The 
country was not all settled up and farmers were in debt 
for their land and improvements. Before the war we 
were under the old dispensation of plows that would not 
scour, of harrows with wooden teeth, but after i860 we 



History of Mason County 259 

took a leap forward and made a new record. We left the 
tallow candle dispensation for the kerosene. The advance 
we made in the last forty years will see a much greater 
advance in the forty years to come. But what a change 
has come over these lands in twenty years. By suitable 
drainage, they have been thoroughly drained and are the 
finest lands in the county and have been made to blossom 
as the rose. 

The third and last division is the table land of the 
count}-, which comprises some of the best farming land in 
tlic county. The land in Quiver and Egypt is of this kind. 
'1 'he timber lands, which were poor and sandy, have been 
improved in the mode of farming, so that they produce 
a third more now than they did thirty year- ago. Mos1 
of the fanners now list the land, instead of plowing it up. 
This is done by throwing two furrows together and then 
planting the corn in the furrow and tending it. By the 
time it is laid, the roots of the corn are dee]) in the ground. 
Now the farm lands are eagerly sought after in Mason 
county and they sell for a higher price than the lands in 
adjoining counties. We do not expect to be very elaborate 
in describing the Mason county land in a book, in which only 
a few hundred pages can be devoted to this part, but we 
expect to give a good report of Mason count)- pioneers at 
a price within the reach of all. There has been only one 
history of Mason county written and that was twenty-five 

years ago. It was a costly 1 k ($10.00) and only one 

person in fifty ever read it. We now promise to write a 

1 k within the reach of all at a moderate price. We write 

for the masses, the toiling masses, and expect to give 
them as much information in fewer words and at a less 
price. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



HAVANA TOWNSHIP 



HP 


■(:'£ . 



HE FIRST white man to settle in Havana town- 
ship was believed to be James Hokum. It was 
known that he kept the ferry for Ross, where 
the city of Havana now stands and it is sup- 
posed to have been established on this side of the river 
as early as 1824. There is but little doubt that he was 
the first white man that squatted on Havana's sandy soil. 
He did not remain long, however, and O. M. Ross may be 
set down as the first permanent settler. Ross came from 
X T e\v York to Illinois in 1819 and first settled in Madison 
county. In the spring of 182 1 he moved to Lewistown 
and was one of the proprietors of that town, which was 
named for his son, Lewis Ross. Ross established the ferry 
at Havana in 1823 or '24. Prior to this there was an ar- 
rangement for taking people across the river on Saturday 
of each week. He would take their baggage in a canoe, 
while their horses were made to swim beside it. Ross built 
the hotel in 1829, which was the first hotel in Mason 
county. He had a brother Jim who lived there for a num- 
ber of years, but moved away. The Ross family consisted of 
four sons and two daughters ; Lewis, Harvey, Leonard and 
Pike were the sons. One of the daughters married A. S. 
Steel and the other married Judge William Kellogg. Henry 
Myers came about the same time as Ross, but moved to 
Fulton county in a short time. John Barnes settled at 
the mounds above Havana in 1829 or '30. He sold out 



History of Mason County 261 

and moved up to Quiver. When a school was established, 
he took his plow and made a road for his children to go 
to school. His girls used to bring cord wood to Havana 
by rafting it down the river. He finally moved to Kansas. 

Reinforcements arrived in 1835; these were Owen Fos- 
ter, X. J. Rockwell, Abel Kemp, Eli Fisk and the Wheadons. 
The Wheadons were from Xew York; they did not stay 
long in Mason county. They settled in Fulton county. 
Silah Wheadon was well known in Mason county in after 
years as a newspaper man. Fisk was a Yankee and set- 
tled in 1837. where his son, Cooley, now resides. Foster, 
Kemp, Adams and Rockwell came from Canada. While 
making a trip east, Adams lost his life during an alterca- 
tion on a steamboat. Kemp moved to Wisconsin and 
Rockwell back to Xew York. Kemp celebrated his golden 
wedding in [874. He has no doubt been dead for many 
years. He first located in the Sangamon bottom, but nearly 
shook his life out with the ague. 1 1c next moved three miles 
south, east of Havana, and then to Havana. Owen Fos 
ter was orginally from Vermont and came west with the 
colony. He engaged in the hotel business and kept the 
second hotel in the county. He finally bought a farm east 
of Havana. He was the father of Jad Foster, the grain 
merchant. His widow married Life Low. A man by the 
name of Blair was here for a shorf time but sold out to 
Rockwell. 

In [836 the following recruits were added: The Low 
brothers, Pulaski Scoville, Pallard Simmons, I'. W. An- 
drews. Ephraim Burnell, John and William Alexander. 
The Lows came from the old Bay state. There were three 
brothers, Frank, Thomas and Eliphaz. Frank is the only 
one living at an advanced age. The Lows, with Pulaski 
Scoville. built a saw mill at Havana in an early day and 
sawed timber for building in Alton and St. Louis, and for 
building the first railroad in the Mississippi Valley. Frank 



262 History of Mason County 

Low was deputy sheriff of Tazewell county and the first 
sheriff of Mason county. He has always been an active, 
energetic man and takes an interest in the welfare of the 
county. Thomas Low was an old bachelor and died in 
1846, while Eliphaz died in 1864. Scoville came from 
Cincinnati to Illinois and, in connection with the Lows, 
built a steam saw mill which did an extensive business 
for many years. He owned a large tract of land. C. W. 
Andrews came from Watertown, New York, and located 
in Havana, and was partner with N. J. Rockwell. He then 
moved to Fulton county and afterward moved back and 
again became a merchant. Andrews was a justice of the 
peace for one term. Ephraim Burnell lived near the mounds 
above Havana and then started for California, but died 
on the way. Erasmus and Evander were his nephews. 
Evander died and Erasmus was living, at the last ac- 
count, in Kansas. 

From Germany, the fatherland, came the Krebaums, 
the Dinkers, the Havenhorsts, John H. Schulte, John W. 
Netler, Fred Speckman, Herman Tegerdes and John Hults- 
grave. The Krebaum family consisted of Bernhart Kre- 
baum and five sons, Adolph, William, Edward, Fred and 
Charles G., the youngest, who was born in Havana and 
supposed to be the first child born there. The Krebaums 
are said to be the third family born in the township and 
the fourth in the county. Fred was a lawyer, Adolph 
was a county clerk, William was a carpenter, Edward was 
a farmer, and Gus was a grain dealer. Adolph, though 
nearly ninety years old, knows as much about the history 
of Mason county as any man living. Daniel Dieffenbacher 
came from Pennsylvania in 1837. He was noted, during 
his life, as a zealous Methodist, and always stood high in 
social and religious circles. Charles Howell was one of 
the old timers and at last account was still living, though, 
at the advanced age of ninety. B. F. Howell and his 



History of Mason County 26 



j 



brother. Theodore, both died in the last three years. 
Charles Howell first settled in Mason county near Mc- 
Harry's mill and at one time was the owner, with Julius 
h»nes and William Pallard as partners. They built a saw 
mill on the north side of Quiver. Charles Howell was as 
great a traveler as the Arkansas traveler. He made sev- 
eral trips to California. He certainly saw as much of the 
country as any other man. He finally settled down on his 
farm and manufactured furniture. We have a set of chair., 
that he made over fifty years ago. 

Robert McReynolds was another pioneer of Havana 
township. He. too. was a zealous Methodist and a Jackson 
Democrat of the Peter Cartright stripe. His house was the 
Methodist preacher's home, lie finally moved to Havana 
and during his later years held many important offices. Me 
left his impress on many sons and daughters. Jacob Mow- 
der and John R. Chaney came from Kentucky in [837. 
Asa Langford came from Tennessee and settled in Lewis- 
town in [824. Afterwards he moved to Point Isabel and 
then to Havana. Langford was a noted character as long- 
as he lived. 'I here is not an old resident of this county 
but what recollects Asa Langford. Luther Dearborn was 
as well known as any man that ewer lived in the county. 
lie did not remain there Ion-, lint moved to Kane comity. 
In [850 he was elected sheriff and had for deputy the cele 
brated detective, Mien Pinkerton. lie came back to Ha- 
vana in [858 and opened up a law office. Luther lived in 
advance of his age. We heard him twenty-five years ago, 
at a grange picnic at forest City, make a prophesy that 
before another twenty-five years had elapsed, that elec- 
tricity would be the motive power that would drive the 
machinery and do the work of the land. How true the 
prophetic utterance. Jonathan Dearborn was the father 01 
Luther and Marcellus Dearborn. He built the Mason 
House that stands on the river. lie was also the post- 



264 History of Mason County 

master. We have seen him on a public day, when he wanted 
to be out with the crowd, put the letters in the top of his 
silk hat and when he met a man on the street that he 
had a letter for give it to him. Quite a change in the post- 
office business now. Dr. E. B. Harpham came to Havana 
in 1844 and practiced medicine for forty years. James, 
Silas and Levi came soon afterward. James and Silas 
are dead. Levi moved to California about ten years ago. 
Higbee was from Lexington, Kentucky. He finally, 
after several moves, located in Havana, where he died. 
Alexander Gray came from Scotland. Reuben Henninger, 
Philip Ott and Simon Frankfield were from the state of 
Pennsylvania. Henninger lived on his farm for many years. 
He raised a large family of boys and girls. He moved 
to Havana before he died. Sam Conwell came to the 
county and engaged in farming and raised Berkshire pigs. 
He raised a large family of boys and girls. He moved 
retired from public life and shut himself up at home and 
was seldom seen. The name, Havana, was given in honor 
of the capital of the Isle of Cuba. The island just above 
Havana was called Cuba. In early days it was covered 
with a growth of burr oak timber, some of which were of 
enormous size, but it was all sawed up by Low & Scoville's 
mill and shipped out of the country so, as we said before, 
the mill was a curse, instead of a blessing to the country. 

CITY OF HAVANA. 

Havana, the county seat of Mason county, is situated 
on the east bank of the Illinois river. It is high and above 
the high water mark. The soil is very sandy. Its main 
production in an early day was sand burrs and fleas. The 
sand burr still survives the wreck of time and flourishes 
like the bay tree, while the flea is a thing of the past. It 
is supposed that they could not stand an advanced civiliza- 
tion. Havana is built on a high bluff, perhaps one hundred 



History of Mason County 265 

feet above the river and a quarter of a mile farther east is 
a second bluff. Havana is forty-seven miles north of 
Spring-field and two hundred miles southwest of Chicago, 
forty miles south of Peoria and nearly two hundred miles 
north of St, Louis. Havana had a postoffice before Chi- 
cago did. The mail was carried on horseback from Lewis- 
town to Springfield. The first justices of the peace were 
Eli Fisk and A. W. Kemp. There was some work for 
the justices in those days, as Fulton county would some- 
times come over in force with clubs and cord wood, and 
many were the pitched battles fought after the combatants 
had filled themselves up with rot gut whisky. These fra- 
cases, with the building up of Point Isabel, were transferred 
across the river, and every Saturday afternoon the people of 
Havana would gather on the banks of the river to witness 
the battle. So common had this became that the name of 
Isabel \va> changed to "Bloody Point." Then the Crane 
Creek and Sangamon timber buys would come to town and 
conceive the idea of having a little fun and. after filling 
up with booze, would -tart out to run the town. It was 
-aid that Uncle Jesse I'.aker commenced to have his fun 
.at <»ne time and that C. \Y. Andrews was commissioned 
to arrest him. Uncle Jesse, being a law-abiding citizen, 
made no resistance. Uncle Jesse's by-word was "sartin and 
sine" Before 1S57 there were no brick houses in Ha- 
vana, when James II. Hole built a brick store house and 
William Walker built a dwelling house. 

We find in writing up the townships and then the towns 
in the same townships that some facts and incidents are 
liable to be repeated, if so, our readers will pardon us for 
repetition. Rev. Michael Shunk was perhaps the first 
Methodist preacher in Havana. lie always filled his ap- 
pointment no matter what was the condition of the roads 
or weather. Shunk had charge of the Methodist Church 
in Mason county as far back as [838 and for fifty years 



266 History of Mason County 

was a faithful preacher of the gospel. The Baptist Church 
dates back in the "forties," although the Baldwins had 
preached here several years before. The German Evan- 
gelical Lutheran Church was organized in 1850 and has 
always been strong in numbers and wealth. The Catholic 
Church has been in good running order since the war. The 
Reformed Church was organized in an early day and has 
come to stay. We understand they have a fund to draw 
from in New York. The county seat question agitated the 
public mind for a number of years. In an election held 
in 1843, Bath won and the county seat remained there till 
185 1, when another election was again ordered and Havana, 
bv a decisive vote, regained the court house. This probably 
settled the question for all time, as the north end of the 
county has two-thirds of the population. There is one eye 
sore. Though the public square is well set with trees and 
the grounds covered with a fine coat of blue grass, the 
court house is a dingy old building, not fit for a county 
like Mason. 

We believe we have given as full a history of Havana 
township and Havana as the brief limits of this little 
volume will warrant and will close up this part of the work. 




CHAPTER XXVI. 



BATH TOWNSHIP 




HIS township is in the southwest part of the 
county. It is twelve miles long by six miles 
wide. It is bounded on the north by Havana 
township; on the west by Lynchburg; on the 
south by Sangamon river; on the east by Kilbourne town- 
ship. The soil is like most of Mason county; of a sandy 
nature, but is exceedingly fertile, producing corn, wheat 
and oats in great abundance. It is also well fitted to raise 
eet potatoes and water melons in great quantities. About 
the time of settlement about one-third of the township was 
timber land; the rest was rolling prairie, well watered by a 
String of lakes. The main branch of the Illinois river, but 
where it is narrower, diverges from the broader two miles 
north of the village of Bath, forming an island west of the 
village, some six sections in extent, called Grand Island. 
containing several farms and residences. 

The first dwelling reared by white men in the present 
town of Bath was built by John Stewart and John Gilespie 
in [828. 

Gilespie built on the old site of Moscow and Stewart 
on Snicarte Island. They were from Tennessee, and, 
though they were first settlers, did not remain lon-\ but 
removed to Schuyler county. Gilespie left his claim and 
Stewart sold out to Amos Rohandson, and he sold to John 
Knight, who entered the land. This was the first land 



268 History of Mason County 

entered in Bath township. Knight was from the east and 
settled here in 1829 and 1830. In a few years he moved 
to Fulton county. Henry Sheppard was the first settler 
in the north part of the township, locating where the 
village of Matanzas afterward stood. He was from Penn- 
sylvania and is acknowledged to have been the first settler 
in that neighborhood. He entered his land in 1832. It is 
related of him that he never would allow a plow in his 
corn, but cultivated it with his hoe, a mode of farming that 
would now be considered peculiar. 

The following additions came from Kentucky : Joseph 
A. Phelps, T. S. D. Marshall, Col. A. West, Dr. O'Neal, 
Major Gatton, Richard Gatton, John S. Wilborn, C. P. 
Richardson, Rev. John A. Daniels, James Holland, T. F. 
Samuel, Laban and Richard Blunt, William H. Nelms, 
John G. and C. Conover, Samuel Pettit and others. 

Joseph A. Phelps settled in the township in 1840, but 
shortly moved into the village of Bath. He was the first 
circuit clerk of Mason county, and was probate judge. 

Col. West came to the state in 1828, and settled near 
Virginia, and in 1844 came to Bath township and finally 
moved to Kansas. After the county seat was moved to 
Bath, and before a court house was built, the circuit court 
was held at his residence. He was one of the early settlers 
of Bath. He acquired the title of colonel by serving in 
the Winnebago war. 

Dr. O'Neal was a son-in-law of Col. West. He came 
from Virginia and settled here in 1843, and finally moved 
to Kilbourne township. 

Major Gatton came to the state with his father in i82_|. 
and settled in Cass county when he was sixteen years old. 
In 1 83 1 he located in Beardstown, and moved to Bath in 
1841, soon after the formation of the county. When Major 
Gatton settled in Bath, there was but one little pole cabin, 
besides his own residence. His brother, R. P. Gatton, had 



History of Mason County 269 

come before him to superintend the building, that it might 
be ready for his brother's family. It was a hewn log house 
and was the second building in Bath. R. P. Gatton lived in 
Bath until his death in 1873. Major Gatton engaged in 
the grain business and was one of the solid men of Bath. 

John F. Wilborn first settled in Beardstown. but moved 
to Hath in [843. He was circuit clerk and postmaster in 
Bath. He then moved to Havana, afterwards to his farm 
three miles east of Mason City. 

Charles P. Richardson is one of the oldest inhabitants 
of Bath township, having settled there in 1836. He first 
settled on Grand Island for ten or twelve years, then moved 
into the village, lie came to the state in 1819, the next 
year after it was admitted into the union, but did not settle 
in thi> part of the state till [836. lie was one of the chain 
carriers to Abraham Lincoln, when he surveyed the village 
of Bath. While engaged in the work, the surveyors made 
their home with Mr. Richardson, who with Kentucky hos- 
pitality, refused all offer- of remuneration, but Honest Old 
Abe determined to compensate him for the trouble the 
surveyors had caused him, and surveyed his land free of 
charge. 

Rev. John A. Daniels was born in Virginia. lie came to 
Illinois in [835 and settled in Cass county, and in 1845 
moved in the township. lie was one of the pioneer 
preachers of the Baptisl denomination, and could quote 
more scripture in one of his sermons than half a dozen 
young preachers of the present day. James Holland, his 
father-in-law, came to the county with him. 

The Blunts came next in the "thirties." Thomas F. 
and Laban came first. Thomas was a zealous member of 
the Baptist Church, and by his own aid built a school 
house, to be used also for church purposes, and provided 
a teacher for the next winter. lie also owned the first 
threshing machine and reaper in the county. A few year- 



270 History of Mason County 

later Richard Blunt, or as he was more familiarly known 
as Dick Blunt, came to the country. He was an original 
man and could always get ahead of any man he talked with. 
His description of the great hail storm in 1848, when he 
described the hail as big as saucers and four inches through, 
has never been equalled. 

William Nelms came to Bath in 1842. He and Major 
Gatton had the first store. Mr. Nelms was one of the 
proprietors of Bath. 

The Conovers came to the township in 1841 and settled 
within a mile of Bath. There were three brothers. Combs, 
William and John G. 

From Tennessee came Joseph Adkins, Joseph Wallace, 
Thomas Bruce, Nelson Ashurst, John Johnson, Matthew 
Wiley, Patrick Campbell and his son, George W. Camp- 
bell. The Campbells were also among the early settlers. 
George Campbell came to Bath as early as 1838, when but 
seventeen years old. His father came as early as 1840. 
He was a lawyer of some ability and an orator of the 
spread eagle style. We heard him introduce Stephen A. 
Douglas in Havana in 1858, when he made the old eagle 
ashamed of itself. He served the country at the bar in the 
legislative hall and on the tented field. 

The Dews settled in 1842. There were four brothers: 
Joseph, Wallace, William and James. The Bruces came in 
1846. Joseph came in 1840 and lived there until his death 
in 1878. 

Nelson R. Ashurst located in 1839. He died of cholera. 
Two sons survived him, one of whom is the originator of 
the Ashurst Press Drill, which is manufactured in Havana 
today, and which has had a great sale throughout the west. 

John Johnson settled just east of the town of Bath in 
1837, and then moved to Lynchburg'. 

Matthew Wiley was among the early settlers. The old 
man settled in the Stewart house, which is mentioned as 
being one of the first houses built in the township. 



History of Mason County 271 

William Banter, a North Carolinian, came to Illinois 
in 1S40, and to Bath in the same year. When the county 
seat was located at Bath. Mr. Banter put the roof on it. 
The three Morrow brothers settled in Bath in 1838. They 
were from North Carolina and were much respected. 
Thomas Hubbard, a son-in-law of Morrow's, settled in the 
south part of the township. He was from Green county. 
George A. Barney came from New York in 1833 and set- 
tled in Cass county. His grandfather commanded a com- 
pany at Springfield, Mass., in an engagement during- the 
Whisky Insurrection. After coming 'to Illinois, he was 
licensed to preach, and joined the conference. He after- 
wards moved to Missouri, but did not remain long on ac- 
count of poor health. lie then engaged in agricultural 
pursuits. lie built a large warehouse on Snicarte Slough, 
which ran through his farm, hut this was burned down by 
incendiaries. 

Isaac Vail was a native of Ohio, and sprung from a 
solid old Buckeye family, lie came to Illinois in 1X43. 
locating in Vermont, Fulton county, and in 1845 came to 
Bath township. lie was one of Bath's most energetic 
merchants, and to him Bath owes much of its prosperity. 
I [e retired al the age of four score years. Warren 1 [eberlmg 
married one of Nail's daughter-. 

Smith Turner came in 1 83S and settled in the south part 
of the township. He was a lawyer of ability. Mis wife 
was a daughter of Drury S. Field. Smith Turner was 
at one time probate judge. Me moved to Missouri during 
the ( 'ivil War. 

V. 1'.. Holmes settled in the vicinity of Matanzas. He 
was from ' Hd Virginia. He entered twelve thousand acres 
of land for Field. He is remembered as a man of many 
peculiarities. Me moved to Tazewell and died there. He 
bought land near Matanzas from John II. Shulte. 

Joseph F. Benner was from Ohio. He assisted in 



2.-2 History of Mason County 

building the court house at Bath. Samuel Craggs came 
from England His wife was a sister of Smith Turner. 
The Bells, four brothers, were among the early settlers. 
All four brothers married sisters in the Morrow family. 
William and Daniel were preachers in the Cumberland 
Church. 

John P. Hudson was a live Yankee. He settled in 
Matanzas and run a small mill, whose motive power was an 
incline wheel forty feet in diameter. A couple of oxen 
would climb the wheel, but never could get to the top. 
We used to ride astride a sack of corn to this mill. T. P. 
Hudson claims to have introduced the McCormick reaper, 
and sold one to William Arnsworth in Lynchburg town- 
ship. 

The Clodfelters settled in Bath township in 1840. They 
came from Morgan county and the family consisted of 
Jacob Clodfelter, Sr., and two sons, Jacob and Michael. 
Old man Clodfelter moved to Kansas, where he died. 

Kean Mahony was an Irishman from the Old Sod. He 
laid out an addition to Bath, known as Mahony's addition. 
He went to California in 1853 and never returned. 

The Beasley family came from New Jersey. They 
located in Bath in 1845 and were in the merchandise busi- 
ness for several years. 

Drury S. Field came some time in the "thirties," and 
settled on what is known as Field's Prairie. He was a man 
of wealth and entered a fine lot of land. A. E. Field, 
his son, was a doctor, also a man of intellect. Mr. Field 
raised a large family, most of whom are dead. They settled 
in that part of Bath township that was taken off to form 
Kilbourne township. Edward Field, father of Drury S. 
Field, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Stokes 
Edwards was among the pioneers and settled on the line of 
Kilbourne township. 

John A. Martin came from the sands of New Jersey 



History of Mason County 2j$ 

in 1846. He first settled in Mason county, but came to 
Bath, where he resided until his death. 

Thomas Howard was a brother-in-law of T. S. D. Mar- 
shall. Thomas Hardest}" came from Peoria, but was 
originally from Kentucky, and used to tell many stories 
about things that happened in his native state. John B. 
Renshaw came in 1845, and was one of the first black- 
smiths in the township. 

S. S. Rochester came from Green county somewhere 
in the "forties." Gen. J. M. Ruggles came to the state 
in 1833. He first came to the county in 1844, but did not 
locate until 1846. He settled in Bath and commenced a 
mercantile business with Major Gatton. He was elected 
to the state senate in the district composed of Sangamon, 
Menard and Mason counties. Abraham Lincoln was a 
member of the lower house. In 1854 he was appointed 
• mi a committee with Lincoln and Ebenezer Peck to draft 
a platform and resolutions for the new party then form- 
ing. The other member- of the committee being busy, 
the duty of drawing up the platform devolved upon Rug- 
gles, who drew tip the first platform of the Republican 
party. In 1861 Governor Yates appointed him quarter- 
master of the First Illinois Cavalry. He was soon pro- 
moted major. lie remained in the regiment until mus- 
tered out in [864. In all positions held by Gen. Rug- 
gles, whether civil or military, hi- duty was discharged with 
faithful fidelity. Gen. Ruggles died in March, 1901. at 
Havana, where he had lived many year-. I le owned a large 
lot hi' land near Kilhonrne. Franklin Ruggles. a brother of 
Gen. Ruggles. came to Bath in 1851, and took an interest 
in a flour mill, then being built by Gatton and Rug- 
gles. A saw mill was also built, which was operated by 
the same power and did a large business under the super- 
intendence nf Franklin Ruggles. He died in 1855, leaving 
two -oils, John and James. John was killed in the battle 
of Shilo. 

18 



274 History of Mason County 

I. N. Mitchel was a native born Sucker. His parents 
were among the pioneers of Morgan county. When he 
was seventeen years old, the family moved to Field's Prairie, 
where he worked on a farm until he was twenty-one years 
of age. He then located in Bath. In 1867 he was elected 
county treasurer; in 1869 he was chosen county clerk. He 
held various other offices, in all of which he gave satisfac- 
tion. After living in Havana for several decades, he died 
two years ago. 

Daniel R. Davis and Benjamin Sisson were from New 
England. Davis was one of the first settlers on the prairie 
east of Bath. He was an old sailor and had been all over 
the world. In a fight at Bath, he was struck with a weight 
and died from the effects. 

Leslie and George Lacy came in 1842. Hugh McCleary 
was a jolly Irishman, and many of the early jokes recorded 
in early times are traced to him. One beautiful Sunday 
morning he slipped out with his gun, when someone asked 
him where he was going. He replied that he had an ap- 
pointment to meet Mr. Holland and Mr. Lefever, two very 
strict church members, down by the river to go hunting 
with them and he was afraid he would be late. 

Dr. Caloway was an early settler of Bath, and had a 
successful practice for several years. John R. Teney was 
an old resident of Bath. James M. Robinson came in 1852, 
and was the first police magistrate. 

The following citizens, mostly of German descent, set- 
tled in the township : G. H. Kramer, J. H. and Detrich 
Strube, Peter Luly, Adolph Krebaum and John Having- 
horst. 

Adolph Krebaum was elected circuit clerk in 1845, an ^ 
moved to Bath in the same year. He remained there until 
185 1, when the county seat was moved back to Havana. 

Peter Luly was a business man in Bath for a number of 
years, but moved to Peoria. John H. Horseman came m 
1836. He was a blacksmith by trade. 



History of Mason County 275 

Havinghorst was among the early settlers of Bath, but 
afterwards kept store in Matanzas. When the first pioneers 
settled in Bath township, it was not the highly cultivated 
farming district that it is now. Wild prairie, timber land, 
marshes and sloughs then, are now fine improved farms. 
The timber has been cleared off, prairies turned upside clown 
and marshes drained, and much land supposed to be worth- 
less, is now reckoned the best in the township. In place 
of the elegant country reidences there was a cabin of Black 
lac 1 Wolves were plentiful then, with an occasional 

panther. The present generation know but little of what 
their fathers had to undergo. In early days people had 
to go to mill at Duncan's on Spoon river, in Fulton county. 
or Simmon's mill on Quiver, which was the more con- 
venient, as it saved ferriage. A few years after McHarry 
built his mill, which supplied the county till the Bath mill 
was built. The first school was taught by Mis. Berry, who 
became the wife of T. S. D. Marshall. The first death 
was that of Louis Van Court, an old hunter. He was a 
bachelor and lived around. He owned a gun, an axe and 
a fiddle. Hiram Blunt is supposed to have been the first 
born, contesting that honor with Gus Krebaum. 

Rev. Shunk was the first minister. He preached in 

:i( m's house before there was any other place. Another 
of the early preachers was the Rev. John M. Daniels, who 
used more quotations from the bible than a half dozen 
preachers of the present daw Rev. George A. Barney was 
another of the early Methodist preachers. Bath township 
has always been 1 Jemocratic, and in the time of the late war 
furnished her full quota without any draft. 

Till-: COUNTY SEAT QUESTION. 

Much ill-feeling was engendered by the location of the 
count v seat. The settlement of the county was always 
north of Bath. The county south of Bath, where the county 



276 History of Mason County 

ran down to a wedge, was the best land for settlement and 
lay east and north of Havana. Bath, by strategy, man- 
aged to hold the capitol for several years. The agitation 
was kept up for several years. Finally, an act was passed 
authorizing an election to be held in February, 1843, and 
as Bath received a majority of the votes, the county seat 
was moved to that place until February, 185 1, when an- 
other election was held, and Havana got the plum by a de- 
cided majority and the question was settled for all time. 
The people of Havana did not wait until a court house 
was built, but rented the upstairs of Dr. Loveland's new 
building, also some other rooms for offices, and taking a 
couple of wagons, went to Bath and moved the archives 
up to Havana. The court house in Bath was sold for a 
schoolhouse. 

There is a beautiful cemetery in Bath that was surveyed 
by General Ruggles. 

Bath has been crippled in its business since the C. P. 
& St. L. Railroad was built, as a great part of the trade, 
that it used to get from Whitehall and Field's Prairie now 
goes to Kilbourne. The water navigation is too slow and 
uncertain, while the railroads are swift and sure to receive 
and deliver freight. 

Matanzas and Moscow were two important towns, 
Matanzas being laid out in 1839, but they have been wiped 
off the map of Mason county as shipping points along the 
river. Matanzas Lake used to be a great fishing point. We 
saw a man by the name of Menturn make a haul once with 
a seine, in which the catch was estimated at thirty thousand 
pounds. They were mostly Buffalo fish, some weighing 
fifty pounds. It was before the German carp had been 
introduced into the Illinois river. The introduction of the 
English sparrow and the German carp into this county 
might have been all right in theory, but its results have 
not been good, as the sparrow has whipped out most of 



History of Mason County 



-// 



our feathered songsters and the carp has destroyed most 
of our game fish by rooting up the bottom of our rivers and 
eating all the fish eggs they could rind. 

Sidora, in the south part of the township, has hardly at- 
tained the dignity of a village. It is a grain station, and is 
situated on land owned by Joseph Adkins. Considering 
the close proximity to Bath and Chandlerville, the shipments 
of grain are large. 







CHAPTER XXVII. 



LYNCHBURG TOWNSHIP 




HE FIRST settler in Lynchburg township was 
Nelson Abbey in 1854. He came from Ver- 
mont and built the first cabin in Section 4. 
He sold out and moved to Missouri. 
The early settlers were mostly from Kentucky. There 
came also from the same state the Rodgers, the Phelps, 
Isaac Bright, Jimmie Northen, William P. Finch, Amos 
West, William Davis and many others. Davis came as 
early as 1838 and made small improvement. He settled 
south of Moscow and finally went to California, when the 
gold fever broke out. Amos S. West came to Illinois, 
settled first in Morgan county and then came to Mason 
county in 1844. He located in Mason county, but fina'ly 
moved to Kansas. The Phelps came to the neighborhood 
in 1838. George' W. first located in Cass county and 
afterward moved to Bath township, whence he moved to 
the place mentioned above. He sold out and went back 
to Kentucky. R. J. Phelps was a son-in-law of John Camp 
and settled east of Snicarte. His last wife was a sister 
of Mark A. Smith, an old settler and prominent citizen of 
the township. After the death of his second wife, he mar- 
ried again and then moved west. Bright moved into the 
township in 1841 and died in 1844. He was justice of the 
peace. His widow married one of the Phelps and moved to 
Texas. ' Jimmie Northen came in 1839 or '40. He first 



History of Mason County 279 

settled in Cass county, where he remained for a time and 
then came to Lynchburg. He had a large family and 
owned ajarge farm. He finally sold out and moved away. 
The Rodgers came in 1838. William settled one mile west 
of Snicarte and John three miles southwest of the same 
sput. They were brothers. William was a doctor and 
John was a blacksmith. William was a brother-in-law 
of Nelson Abbey's. John Rodgers died in 1868. William 
P. Finch came in 1842 and was one of the early school- 
masters, and alsr. a justice of the peace. A daughter of 
his married < me of the Phelps'. 

Amos Smith came from Vermont and settled in the 
town-hip in [839, about one mile from Snicarte. Amos 
Smith. Jr., and Benjamin Smith, his sons, came with teams 
to Whitehall, New York, and by canal and bake Erie 
from Buffalo to Cleveland, and by way of the Ohio, Mis- 
sissippi and Illinois rivers to Beardstown, where they ar- 
rived in [837. \m<>- Smith. Jr., was justice of the peace, 
an office he held until his death. Benjamin F. Smith was a 
carpenter. Mark A. Smith, son of Amos Smith. Sr., came 
to the township in [839. lie arrived in Moscow, October 
15th, with a fortune of 37 cents ready money. When they 
landed, the family and goods were left on the bank of the 
river, while he went to explore the town to get a team. 
He traveled she miles to Nelson Abbey's and returned at 
3 o'clock and took his family to Abbey's, where they ah 
lived until a cabin could be built. 

Simon Ward came from North Carolina in [838. lie 
followed the occupation of selling wood to steamboats. He 
moved to Texas, but came back and died, lie set out the 
firsl orchard in [855. George W. Carpenter was from 
Tennessee, lie raised a large family and at last moved to 
Kansas. James 1). Reeves came in 1839. He settled one- 
half mile south of Moscow. Rev. John Cam]) came from 
Pennsylvania in 1838 ,and was the first probate judge of 
Mason county. I le built a horse mill at an early day, where 



280 History of Mason County 

the pioneers used to get their hominy ground. John Stewart 
was one of the first settlers of Bath township. He settled 
first at Snicarte Island and then in Lynchburg. Caleb 
Brown and family came from New York; first settled in 
Adams county and then in Lynchburg in 1844. He had 
two sons and several daughters. Jonathan Sackman came 
in 1 84 1, but remained only a year or so. He was a justice 
of the peace, but soon moved away. John J. Fletcher, an 
Englishman, came at an early day, and was a prominent 
citizen for many years. The Marshalls came from Ten- 
nessee about 1840. There were four brothers. Elisha 
moved to Adams county, and David to Missouri. Thomas 
Bowls came in 1839, but was not very popular, as he was 
supposed to be issuing money of his own. Ashley Hicky 
and Aaron Ray became interested with him. Hicky fur- 
nished his means to purchase material and tools for the 
enterprise, and Bowls went to St. Louis to make an in- 
vestment, but spent the money in spreeing and told, when 
he came back, that he had bought the tools and shipped 
them, but, as they did not arrive, he was accused of lying 
and swindling and kicked out of the county. James Ingram 
came from Indiana in 1840. He was drowned two years 
later in Snicarte Slough. Zeph Keith came from Tennessee 
in 1843. He was a jolly good fellow, but moved to Kansas. 
The Lanes came from Pennsylvania. Pleasant May and his 
son William came from Kentucky in 1837. George May, 
a brother of Pleasant May, laid out the village of Lynch- 
burg. William Bailey was from Kentucky. Thomas 
Richard and William Ainsworth were natives of England, 
and came to America in 1842 and located in the township. 
Thomas had $800.00, the other two $50.00 apiece, and 
they borrowed money from Thomas to enter some land. 
The Laymans were from Ohio and moved in 1845. David 
Layman was a Virginian and William Howarth came witii 
the Ainsworths. 



History of Mason County 281 

The first religious society was organized by the Metho- 
dists in 1838. The early preachers were Rev. Robert Ander- 
son and a preacher by the name of Williams (called Daddy 
Williams). The first members were John Camp and wife, 
George Marshall and wife and James D. Reeves and wife. 
A frame church was built in 1850 and dedicated by Peter 
Cartright. It is known as the Fairview M. E. Church. 
They have a flourishing Sunday school. Thomas Ains- 
worth was the first superintendent. William Ainsworth 
has served in that capacity for more than a score of years. 
Hopeville Baptist Church was organized in 1840, by the 
Revs. John Daniels and Thomas Taylor, with eight mem- 
bers. It was organized at the residence of William Davis. 
Services were held at private houses until a schoolhouse 
was built in 1852, and then this was used for church pur- 
poses until [865, when a church was built. A Sunday 
school was organized in 1864. 

Who taught (he first school is hard to find out, but 
William Finch was an early teacher. There was a school 
taught by Mr-, (amp. a sister of Mark A. Smith before 
there were a schoolhouse in the township. 11. G. Rice was 
the first teacher after the schoolhouse was built. 

The first marriage in Lynchburg was that of William 
Cole and Nancy May. The first birth was Henry Ward. 
-on of Simon Ward, born in [834. The first death was 
Mary Jane Smith. 

At an early day the people got their mail at Havana, 
later at Bath. Sniearte is the nearest to a village in Lynch- 
burg township, but has never been laid out or surveyed. A 
-mall grocery store was opened in 1858 by Mark A. Smith 
This was enlarged the next year and an extensive stock of 
goods put in. Smith sold his stock of goods to Henry C. 
Hoesman. A postoffice was established in 1859, with 
I [1 'race Rice as pi •stmaster. 

There was a village laid out at an early day by George 



282 



History of Mason County 



May, called Lynchburg, but as a town, it never made much 
progress. May had his town laid out, then bought a barrel 
of whisky, and had a sale of lots, but it would not go. 

Fairview consists of a Methodist Church and a school- 
house, and derives its name from the fact that a fair 
view of the country is had from the surrounding elevated 
hill, on which the buildings are situated. 





CHAPTER XXVIII. 

QUIVER TOWNSHIP 

SETTLEMEXT had been made west of the 
Creek as early as 1835. Xo one had ventured 
across the Creek, into what is now Quiver town- 
ship prior to 1837. John Barnes from Ken- 
tucky, had located as early as the first mentioned 
date. His wife was truly a helpmate. Her muscular 
strength was Mich that she could split one hundred 
and fifty rails a day. At Barnes' home, Joseph Lybarger 
stopped a few weeks, before he crossed the Quiver, and be- 
gan his improvements. Lybarger was from Pennsylvania 
and was a blacksmith by trade. The exact date of his set- 
tlement cannot he fixed to a certainty. It is probable it oc- 
curred in 1S37. Soon after coming he opened up a shop 
and for a number of years did the work for that part of the 
country. In the summer of 1S37. Henry Seymore came 
and settled east of Lybarger's. A month later Peter Ring- 
house, who had been stdpping at St. Louis, came and settled 
in the community. Ringhouse was originally from Ger : 
many, but had lived in Baltimore before coming west. Wil- 
liam Atwatter came from Connecticut and located in the 
neighborhood, lie served an apprenticeship and followed 
his trade for a number of years. He erected a frame build- 
ing, probably the first in the township, and began to improve 
his farm. For two years after coming, he led the life of a 
bachelor and fared with as much happiness as bachelor's 
enjoy. The climate did not seem to agree with him, as he 



284 History of Mason County 

was annoyed with chills and fever. At one time he deter- 
mined to exchange one-half of his land for a horse and 
wagon and the tail end of a stock of goods; this he intended 
to peddle, hoping to get enough money to leave the country, 
but he was destined to become one of the permanent settlers 
of the country. On telling his intentions to a friend, he 
persuaded him to stay and get married. Mr. Atwatter was 
in favor of the suggestion and in a short time Miss Eliza- 
beth Ringhouse became Mrs. Elizabeth Atwatter. He lived 
at the place he first settled all his life. His widow still sur- 
vives him and is now Mrs. Korell. John Seeley, William 
Patterson and a man by the name of Edwards settled near 
the bluff timber, in 1840. Isaac Parkhurst moved near 
Quiver Creek in 1840 and was a justice of the peace, when 
this section was in Tazewell county. During the year of 
1842, Benjamin Ross, Dan Waldron, William E. Magill and 
George V. Coon were among the permanent settlers. Ross 
was from Tennessee and had settled in Cass county before 
coming to Mason. Waldron was from New Jersey and re- 
• mained a citizen till his death. W. E. Magill came from 
Menard. George V. Coon came from New Jersey and set- 
tled in Green county in 1839. At the same time, Stephen 
Brown, his father-in-law, Robert Cross, and Aaron Litell 
came and settled by him. Loren Ames, a native of the old 
Bay State, came west in 18 18 and settled in St. Clair county. 
In 1842 he became a citizen of Quiver. He had served in 
the Black Hawk war, first as private and afterward as 
lieutenant in Col. Fray's noted regiment. William Colwell, 
a native of England, first settled in Cass County. In 1842 
he came to Quiver township. He died from a kick of a 
horse. He was a local preacher in the Methodist Episcopal 
church. His son, John Colwell, belongs to the Illinois 
conference and is an able preacher. George Steath sold 
out to Cross. In 1843 Cross and Litell settled on farms ad- 
joining Coon. Fred High, Henry Rakesstraw and Freeman 



History of Mason County 285. 

Marshall made settlement in 1843. Moses Eckard came 
from Maryland, located in Fulton county in 1839 and in 
Mason county in 1840. In 1844 ne married a daughter 
of Pollard Simmonds. He then moved near where the 
village of Topeka stood. Most of the settlements, up to 
this, had been made along the bluff of the 'Illinois river. In 
1847, J- M. McReynolds located in the south side of Quiver 
and east of Eckard. Robert McReynolds. the father of 
J. M., came from Pennsylvania in 1838 and settled seven 
miles east of Havana. In 1849 he became a citizen of 
Quiver township and at an early day was connected with the 
interest of the comity. In 1845 we find him connected with 
the board of county commissioners. In 1849 he was Asso- 
ciate Judge with Smith Turner and John Pemberton. In 
every position in which he was placed, integrity marked his 
course. He was an earnest advocate of Methodism, lie 
was not only a pioneer in the country, but a pioneer in Meth- 
odism. In building his house, an extra large room was 
provided in which to hold meetings. Quarterly meetings, 
were held, over which Peter Cartright presided. On one 
occasion over fifty people were there for breakfast. The 
first Sunday school in the county was established at his 
house in 1841. with twelve teacher- and twenty-one scholars. 
J. M. is following in the footsteps of his father. John 
Appleman, Thomas Yates and George Ross came from Ohio 
.and settled in the part of the township known as Tight Row. 
Appleman died years ago. Yates in 1870 and Ro>s returned 
to Ohio ou a visit and died. Hugh Mcllarry. a native of 
Ireland, came to this country in 1822. He had come to this 
country to make a fortune. He started penniless. His. 
mind led him to milling. Pie lived on the Erie canal; then 
in Louisville and came to Beardstown in 1842. In 1843 
he bought the Quiver Mill site, which was only a saw mill; 
then he built a grist mill on the south side of Julius Jones, 
Charles Howell and William Pollard, who built the dam. 



286 History of Mason County 

The saw mill was in Quiver township, while the grist mill 
was in Havana township. McHarry was a large land own- 
er, and in war times donated many a sack of flour to the 
poor war widows. The first school in the township was 
near William Atwatter and was taught by a German named 
Vollrath. In addition to the regular school instruction, he 
taught music and led the exercises with a fiddle. This feat- 
ure was not well received by the parents, as they considered 
it a device of the devil to capture and lead their young chil- 
dren down the road to ruin, so his services were not needed 
a second term. Vollrath was from the south and his high 
ideas of southern life did not accord with the western 
pioneer life, consequently he was not popular with the 
people. Among others who taught in early days were 
Charles B. Waldo and George Carem. 

The early preaching was in private houses and barns. 
Elder Jonah Crawford held a protracted meeting in Lybar- 
ger's barn. The meetings were held for a number of years 
in William Atwatter' s residence. Elder Brockman and 
Powell fed the sheep for a number of years. The Presby- 
terian church in Tight Row was built in 1853 and had a 
flourishing congregation, but remained idle for a number of 
years, except on funeral occasions. Among the early minis- 
ters were Rev. William Perkins, Andrews and Bennett. The 
principal cemetery of the township is connected with this 
church. The first interment was Robert Cross. Since that 
time many of the early pioneers have been laid beside him 
to sleep till Gabriel shall summon the sleepers to arise. Near 
by stands the Christian Chapel, erected in 1866. Joseph 
Lybarger and wife, W. E. Magill and wife, and William 
Atwatter and wife, were among the first members. Elders 
Judy and Haughey have ministered to their spiritual wel- 
fare, since the zeal of the early settlers frequently led them 
to attend meetings from ten miles away, often in ox wagons. 
William Atwatter and Elizabeth Ringhouse were married 



History of Mason County 287 

in 1840 by Esquire Parkhurst. This was undoubtedly the 
first marriage in Quiver township, which was at that time 
in Tazewell county, and Mr. Atwatter had to procure his 
license at Tremont. The first doctor was Dr. Buckner. Dr. 
Allen and Dr. Harpham of Havana, also cared for the bod- 
ies of the Quiventers. The first birth was Fidelia Lybarger. 
The first death was Mrs. Maria Elan, which occurred in 
1838. Quiver township was loyal to the old flag in the late 
war. many of her sons yielding up their lives in its defense. 
The village of Topeka is seven miles northeast of Ha- 
vana and is the only village within the limits of Quiver 
township. It was surveyed for Moses Eckard and Richard 
Thomas in [858. In order to secure the town site, Eckard 
and Thomas bought one hundred and eighty acres of David 
Beal and eighty acres was made into the town plat. Forty 
acres were donated to the railroad company in order to se- 
cure the station. The first resident of the town was J. L. 
Yates, a blacksmith, who had worked at McHarry's mill 
previous to coming to Topeka. Dr. E. X. Nichols built the 
second house and was the first doctor. Harrison Yenard 
was the third resident. He was from Ohio and with Ben 
Rosebrough started the first store, which in a couple of 
months was under the name ^\ Venard & Musleman. A 
second store was opened by Musleman and Aaron Litell. 
Other business men came, till it seemed that Topeka was on 
the road to prosperity. A grain warehouse was built in 
1800 by Moses Eckard. R. W. Stires of St. Louis, was the 
first to buy grain and Porter & Walker operated at different 
times. The grain was handled in sacks and shipped in Hat 
cars. Flower Allen and Sherman built a cheap constructed 
elevator. Low and Foster came next and entered the ring, 
A neat and substantial depot was soon erected. Harrison 
Venard was the first agent. 

The Methodist church was built in 1865. The Rev. T. 
T. Simmons was the first preacher. The postoffice was es- 



288 History of Mason County 

tablished in i860. The village was incorporated in accord- 
ance with an act of the legislature in '1869. Samuel Yates, 
Philip Brown and Robert G. Rider were elected as trustees. 
The board organized by electing Samuel Yates, president ; 
F. S. Allen, clerk ; Philip Brown, police magistrate, and 
James Norman, constable. The income was very light 
from license of any kind and the improvements were paid 
by taxation or by contribution. The population of Topeka 
is small and, while it does not grow, it manages to hold its 
own. 

The early settlers in the northern part of Quiver township 
were the Himmels, of which there were several families. 
Peter Himmel moved from Petersburg away back in the 
"forties" and there was George Himmel, who lived south of 
Havana, and Adam and John Himmel. These men had large 
families. There was also Henry Bishop and a score of 
others, but it would take 1,000 pages to do them all justice. 




CHAPTER XXIX. 



m 



FOREST CITY TOWNSHIP 

HIS t( twnship is bounded on the north by Manito 
township, on the south by Pennsylvania and 
Sherman, on the west by Quiver township. 
It is the smallest of the thirteen townships. 
The soil and general characteristic- of the soil do not differ 
fo>m the adjoining townships. Timber land is found in 
the north part of the township. Quiver Creek is a small 
stream flowing through from east to west and this, with 
artificial drainage, makes it a good agricultural township. 
It was firsl called Mason Plain, but the name was changed 
to Forest City in [873, the reason being that mistakes oc- 
curred through confusing it with Mason City. 

There was no settlement in that township before 1840. 
Robert Cross came from New Jersey and settled in Green 
county in [839. In [842 there were only four or five 
houses standing in what is now Forest City township, 
the following named persons constituting the residents: 
Henry Bishop, A. Winthrow, Peter Ilimmel. A. File and 
Stephen Hedge. Winthrow came there in 1840 and was 
no doubt the first settler. Mr. Cross thinks that Ilimmel, 
File and Hedge came in 1842. Winthrow. File and Him- 
mel came from Germany; Hedge came from Fulton county. 
After a few years' residence, Hedge moved back to Fulton 
county and died there. At the same time, there lived across 

the line of Manito, Ray , Riley Morris and Abel 

Maloney. In 1846 Alex Pemberton and a man by the 

19 



290 History of Mason County 

name of Babbit settled south of Forest City. They were 
the first to venture away from the woods. Alex Cross 
came up from Quiver and settled south of Forest City 
the same year. Slicky Bill Green and his brother, Nult 
Green, were from Menard and William Cooleridge was 
from Tennessee. The Greens settled on the south side of 
Quiver. In 1852 Bill sold out to George Neikirk and 
moved to Menard county. His brother, Nult, moved to 
McDonough county. In 1850 the west side of the town- 
ship was increased by the coming of August Webber, 

Greenfelter, E. Harpst, the Weslings, Wemhofls 

and Kreilings. They were all German and made good citi- 
zens. William and Garrett Bruning and Fred Lux all 
pitched their tents in the county. In the spring of 1852 
a large influx came. T. H. Ellsworth, Joseph Ellsworth, 
William Ellsworth and W. E. Ellsworth all came from 
Fulton county. T. G. Onstot came from Havana. The 
Neikirk family came from Ohio. John Bowser came from 
Ohio at the same time as Carl Gamble, Silas Cheek, Fred 
Foster, John Martin, (called Owlpatch Martin), William 
Ewers and Long John Martin. Samuel Ingersoll located 
north of Red Oak Grove, but has been dead a score of years. 
Many of the inconveniences that surrounded Quiver 
and Manito townships surrounded Forest City. They had 
to haul their grain a long way to market and had to haul 
their lumber home the same distance. Their principal mar- 
kets were Pekin and Havana. For milling they had to 
go to Mackinaw or across into Fulton county. The journey 
to Mackinaw mills generally took four days, as they al- 
ways waited for their grist, even if it took a week. Sim- 
mond's and McHarry's mill of Quiver in a few years 
saved the people from going so far. While the early set- 
tlers had many inconveniences, they also had many of 
the blessings that we cannot now boast of. They had all 
kinds of game, that could be had for the killing. It did 



& c 



History of Mason County 291 

not require hunting, as there was always an abundance on 
hand. Alex Cross, who is considered truthful, says that on 
one occasion he had counted fifty deer in one drove and 
they began to come so fast that he lost the count. T. H. 
Ellsworth, who seldom exaggerates, saw fifty-six by actual 
count. Wild game was so abundant that farmers had to 
drive them out of their fields as they would a drove of 
swine. Civilization has driven out all of the deer. Dan 
West fall, with a pack of hounds, settled the deer question 
at the close of the war. Vast and mighty changes have 
come over the country in the last fifty years, and the youth 
of today never forget hearing the pioneers of the past 
tell of the times and of the game, that used to roam at 
will over the vast prairies. The hunter of today would have 
gone wild over the amount of game we had in early times. 
Only enough game was killed to supply the table, as there 
was no way to ship the surplus. 

The first preacher in the township was Rev. Garner. 
He had an appointment every three week- at William 
Ewers', a half mile south of Forest City, on Thursday af- 
terno, ni at j; p. m. The early pioneers would all turn out 
to hear Bro. Garner. Some would come in their two horse 
wagon-, some mi horseback and some in their ox wagon-. 
The preacher would give his hymn and all would reverent- 
ly take part, and when the meeting was over the audience 
would not do as they do now. take their hats and run, but 
have a kind of old settlers meeting and inquire all about 
their neighbors and go home with a perfect knowledge 
of what was going on in the neighborhood. Among the 
other Methodist preachers were Rutledge Randall and Peter 
Cartright. These were the men who planted Methodism 
on these fertile prairies. Rev. William Perkins, a Pres- 
byterian, occasionally ministered to those who were in- 
clined to that doctrine. The meetings were held in private 
houses, till schoolhouses were built, which, besides being 



292 History of Mason County 

used for school purposes, were used for preaching places 
and for elections. The first schoolhouse in the township 
was Union No. 1, about a mile and a half south of Forest 
City. John Covington was the first teacher. Other houses 
were built as fast as the population required them. The 
houses were neat frame buildings. 

The first Sunday school was organized by Thomas H. 
Ellsworth in the spring of 1853. William Ellsworth was 
the first superintendent. It was held at a private house 
till the building of the schoolhouse in 1854, when it was 
transferred to that point. The German Methodist and 
the Evangelical soon built houses of worship. The Al- 
bright Church was built in 1856, but soon grew, till it had 
to be rebuilt. There are forty acres of land, with a good 
parsonage with the church ; also a well kept cemetery. 
Forest City has a large German population, who are all 
good citizens. Taking all together. Forest City will com- 
pare with adjoining townships. 

The village of Forest City was surveyed in 1859 by J. F. 
Cuppel and Alex Cross and for Walker, Kemp, Wright and 
Wagonseller. It contained forty-seven acres. An addition 
of twenty acres was afterwards made in the north part of 
the town in 1865 by David S. Broderick. The lines of the 
original survey ran north and south, but were never re- 
corded. The town runs parallel with the railroad. The 
town is seventeen miles south of Pekin and thirteen miles 
north of Havana. Alex Cross built the first residence in 
the town. T. H. Ellsworth built a residence in i860. 
Josiah Jackson, S. T. Walker, T. A. Gibson and E. T. 
Neikirk were among the early citizens of the place. Cross 
and Walker built the first store house and began mer- 
chandising in 1 86 1. Rogers and brother built the second 
and opened it up. The business grew, till there were sev- 
eral stores in the village. A large amount of grain was 
shipped on flat cars to Havana in the early part of the 



History of Mason County 



293 



"sixties." The grain would be sacked and piled up on the 
track and when the train came along the owner would 
have a lot of men to load one hundred and fifty sacks, 
as he had the privilege to ride on his load of grain to Ha- 
vana. The High school building was erected in 1877. The 
first physician was Dr. Mostiler and was the first to locate 
near the town. E. G. Nichols was here quite early. Dr. 
James Walker came next. A lodge of Good Templars was 
organized in 1865. A good substantial iron bridge over 
Quiver was erected just south of the town. The first iron 
bridge in the county was built somewhere in the "seventies" 
and the road across the bottom, which had been impass- 
able for loaded teams, was gravelled with one hundred 
loads of gravel. Forest City was without any settlements 
half a century ago. Xow it is dotted all over with fine 
farm houses, large barns and towering wind mills. The 
people ride in fine carriages and they are intelligent. It 
has the finest looking women, the best cattle, the best 
horses, the most intelligent children in the county and 
furthermore the deponent saith not. 








CHAPTER XXX. 

MANITO TOWNSHIP 

HE township of Manitq is situated in the north- 
eastern part of Mason county and comprises 
about forty-five sections. It is somewhat ir- 
regular in shape, being eight miles along its 
northern boundary by nine miles north and south along its 
eastern line ; the extreme west line is four miles from north to 
south. With the exception of two or three small groves in 
the north and northwestern portions of the township, the 
entire township is a vast, level prairie. The central, 
eastern and southeastern portions are flat, but susceptible 
of drainage. When the first settlers came, much of this 
county was set down as swamp lands, but this, by artificial 
drainage, has been converted into the most productive farms 
in her limits ; and where once wild geese and ducks in 
countless numbers swam lazily or floated calmly undis- 
turbed upon the stagnant water, may now be seen finely 
cultivated farms teeming with the golden harvest. 

The soil is a deep black loam, mixed with sand, but is 
exceptionally fertile and productive. Indeed, such a vast 
amount of corn, wheat and oats are produced in Manito 
township that it is justly called Egypt. Water is easily 
obtained by drive wells in any part of the township and 
when a well is once made an inexhaustible supply of water 
is obtained for all time, and the farmer has only to erect 
a wind mill over the well to have a running stream that 



History of Mason County 295 

will water his herds and flocks with pure and fresh water 
the vear round. The northwestern part of the township 
is more broken and the soil is lighter, but produces well. 
The soil can stand drought or wet weather longer than 
Egypt of old. 

Manito township is thus bounded : It lies north of 
Forest City, east of Quiver and south and west of Tazewell. 
Black Oak GroYe in the northeast. Coon Grove in the cen- 
ter and Long Point in the west comprise the timber to be 
found in Manito. Walnut Grove is a small piece of tim- 
ber west of Manito. As was the case in other parts of the 
county, the first settlements were made in the timber. No 
matter how unproductive the land along the timber belt, 
nor how rich the prairie might* be, the early pioneer built 
his cabin and began to clear out a farm in the brush, leaving 
to his -or the tine prairie lands to improve. 

The first settler was one William Herron, who settled 
in [838, easl of the village of Manito. lie had come from 
Ohio to Mackinaw and then to Mason county and settled 
in Black Oak Grove, llis sister kept house for him. He 
died and was buried on his farm. Few, if any. of the 
present generation can point out his grave. At or near this 
time came Stephen W. Porter with his wife and settled 
in the corporate limits of Manito near the edge of the pond. 
l'i irter was a nephew of 1 [err< >n's and als< 1 came fr< >m Macki- 
naw. A man by the name of Kay settled between Coon 
Grove and Long Point, on the farm now owned by W. 11. 
Cogdel. In 1840 he built a cabin, which was the third 
permanent settlement in the township. Soon after he came 
he planted some apple seeds. Some of the apple trees are 
still standing near the railroad. After a few years' resi- 
dence he sold out to Cogdel and started back to New York, 
but died on the way. Labor was very low and money scarce 
and a man could hire his rails made for twenty-five cents 
per hundred and take his pay in meat at twelve and a half 
cents a pi >und. 



296 History of Mason County 

Among' the settlers who came as early as 1845 were Abel 
Maloney, Layton Rice, George Baxter, John Davis, King 
Hibbard, James Green, Thomas Landreth, Zeno Ashmore, 
William Mayes, Douglas Ossborn and Wesley Brisborn. 
Maloney came from Virginia and first settled in Menard 
county in 1838. Coming to Manito in 1841, he settled near 
the Union Station. We was in poor circumstances when he 
came, but accumulated means rapidly and was considered 
wealthy at the time of his death, which occurred in 1849. 

Rice came from Kentucky and first settled in Menard 
county, but came to Coon Grove in 1842. George Baxter 
was from Kentucky, but settled in Long Point as early as 
1842. He was somewhat noted among the early settlers 
for his matrimonial taste, as his wife had some African 
blood in her veins. He had come to Illinois that he might 
enjoy connubial bliss unmolested, but it seemed that the 
people were against him and he was entered out by Robert 
Green. He next located near Simmond's Mill, finally mov- 
ing west, and no more was heard of him. 

Davis settled on the Randolph farm. He was remembered 
among the pioneers as the man who was never seen wear- 
ing a glove or a mitten, no matter how cold it was, he was 
always bare handed. 

Hibbard came from Mackinaw and settled in the north 
part of Black Oak Grove. In a few years he sold out and 
bought three yoke of oxen from Thomas Landreth and 
started for Oregon, but was never heard of afterwards. 

James Green came from Menard county, but in a few 
years moved back. About the same time Zeno and Calvin 
Ashmore came from Indiana. Calvin was known as 
Jehinky. They were a shiftless set. 

Thomas Landreth came from Virginia and settled at 
Mackinaw as early as 1825. In 1844 he came to Coon 
Grove and bought the claim of Layton Rice. Landreth 
became a permanent settler. When he came he had a family 



History of Mason County 297 

of six children. He was twice married and was the father 
of twenty-two children. 

William Mayes and Douglas Ossborn were from Ken- 
tucky, the Brisborns from Mackinaw. Mayes was known 
by the name of "Ham Legs." He was so called on ac- 
count of being very bow-legged. 

While this portion of the country did not increase in 
population very rapidly until some years later, still there 
was a steady growth. As early as 1850 we can add to the 
names already given James Overton, Amos Ganson, Wil- 
liam and Nult Green and Col. Robert Moore. Jacobs was 
from New York, Overton from Kentucky. Amos Ganson 
settled in Egypt and opened up a blacksmith shop. Col. 
Moore was from Kentucky. His parents settled in Menard 
county. He was a soldier in the Mexican War. He located 
his land warrant in Manito township, becoming a resident 
in 1849. He helped to build up the village of Spring Lake. 
He built a warehouse and engaged in the grain business 
as early as [852. 

John Pemberton (called Uncle Jacky), Emery Hail, 
Matthew Langston, James M. Langston, M. W. Rogers, 
James K. Cox, Riley Morris and John O. Randolph were 
citizens of Manito township as early as 1851 ; the rest all 
came in 1S50. The Langstons came from Tennessee to 
Morgan county, and Rogers was from Kentucky. The 
Langstons and Rogers purchased improvements from 
James McCoy. Joseph Luse settled in the neighborhood 
and after living there fifteen years returned to England. 
James EC. Cox was a native of Virginia. 

When the settlers first came, the prairie stretching back 
east from the river was a grand, imposing scene as far as 
the eye could reach. The tall, blue stemmed prairie grass 
was waving like the boundless sea, and this, with myriads 
of flowers of all color- and hues, awakened feelings of 
admiration, which the finest landscape failed to inspire. 



298 History of Mason County 

Many of the flowers planted by Nature's God far surpassed 
in beauty those of rarest culture of today. Every fall the 
whole face of the country was swept by fire, the flames of 
which would sweep high up in the heavens, then descend, 
reaching a hundred feet ahead. None but those who have 
seen our prairie fires of thirty years ago can comprehend 
their grandeur. 

At the date of the early settlement, game of all kinds 
was plentiful. It was not uncommon to see herds of deer 
in droves of from seventy-five to one hundred and their 
course was plainly marked by the parting of the tall grass. 
Oft times they would come within gunshot reach of the 
pioneer's cabin; oft times they would destroy the settlers' 
garden in one night. Wild geese, ducks and cranes were in 
abundance and annoyed the pioneer by destroying his crops. 
The wolf and the fox came in for their share by robbing 
hen roosts, pig sties and sheep cotes. 

When Abel Maloney first came, he brought his two 
oldest boys, William and John, and some little stock. 
After building his cabin he returned to Menard county 
for his wife and the rest of the family, leaving the boys to 
take care of the house and look after the stock. William 
thus relates the experience: "After my father left us, a 
rain set in which so raised the Sangamon and Salt Creek 
that he could not return for four weeks. At night the boys 
would take the geese and ducks and chickens, with the dogs 
into the cabin and lock the doors. As soon as twilight 
appeared, the wolves began their nightly orgies, and be- 
tween the squealing of the hogs and the howling of the 
wolves night was rendered hideous. Indeed, they some- 
times feared that from the vigor with which the wolves 
scratched at the door, they might effect an entrance and 
make mince meat of their bodies. When Abel Maloney 
returned home, not a hog was left. The old folks were 
welcomed heartily on their return." 



History of Mason County 299 

Coon Grove derived its name from the vast number of 
coons found there in the early days. The woods were 
full of them. Many of the trees were hollow and had 
Indian ladders beside them, saplings with the limbs cut 
off some distance from the body, and holes chopped into 
the trees, evidently the work of the Indians in attempts to 
catch the coon. Mr. Maloney states that at certain sea- 
sons of the year they would go out into the fields and drive 
them out like sheep, so destructive were they to their crops. 
The pioneers by no means lived a life of luxury. Homes 
were to be provided, farms were to be made and farm im- 
plements provided for the successful cultivation. Money 
was scarce, for they were men of limited means who had 
left their homes to try their fortunes in a new country. 
Their milling was done twenty miles away; their trading 
was done in Pekin, Mackinaw. Delavan and Havana. A* 
these points they sold their produce and bought their dry 
goods and groceries. In times of high water they would 
take their grist to Spring Lake by ox team- and then by 
skiff to Utica, rowing a distance of from eight to ten miles. 
If a plow needed repairing it must be taken to Pekin, 
Mackinaw or Havana. It took all summer to raise a crop 
and all winter to deliver it. 

An nn failing indication that the Sabbath day had come 
was to see the women equipped with fishing tackle and the 
mm with guns, all parties headed for Spring Lake. Here 
the day was passed in pleasure seeking and merry making. 
Sometimes the men would stake off a race course and in- 
dulge in foot racing. We are by no means to conclude 
that they were savage in their disposition, for no one was 
more hospitable to a stranger in need than were the early 
settlers in Manito. It was simply their way of enjoying 
themselves. Fighting and quarreling were almost unknown 
among them and if friendly fist cuffs sometimes occurred 
they generally quit good friends. They did not neglect 



300 History of Mason County 

the education of their children, so we find them at an early 
day building schoolhouses and maintaining schools by sub- 
scriptions. The first schoolhouse in the township was at 
Coon Grove near Samuel Starrett's. The house was a log 
cabin sixteen feet square and had a window of three lights. 
It may have been a little dark on cloudy days, but was 
well adapted for its purpose. It was covered with clap- 
boards, and the drops of rain came down inside as well as 
outside. Stephen W. Porter was the first teacher. The 
second shoolhouse was a hewn log house built within the 
present limits of Manito. Miss Adeline Broderick and Mrs. 
Rachel Ott were among the first teachers. 

The first postoffice in Manito township was kept by 
Col. R. S. Moore at his residence on the Peter Gay farm. 
This was established in 1857, in the route from Havana 
to Delavan. It was called Pilot Hill, being named after 
a big hill nearby. A year or so later it was father south 
at the residence of John Pemberton. At a still later date 
it was taken to Berkdressers store at Egypt Station, and 
finally, when the railroad station was moved to Manito, 
the name of Manito was given to the office. 

The Methodist, Baptist and Presbyterian Churches came 
with the first settlers. Rev. William Colvell, a Methodist 
preacher, was probably the first. He was an Englishman 
and lived in the east end of Tight Row. He preached at 
Bro. Paul's at Spring Lake and at the end of his meetings 
he took a vote whether they wanted any more meetings or 
not. Colvell was a local preacher and Bro. Paul voted to 
have meetings, saying that he was in favor of meetings, 
"if it was not quite so good." .In 1853, Peter Cartright 
held a campmeeting at Walnut Grove, when many people 
were converted. 

Dr. John Allen, who resided near McHarry's Mill, was 
the first doctor that practiced medicine in the township. 
Dr. Mostiler came next. He studied under Allen. The 



History of Mason County 301 

first resident practitioner was Dr. J. B. Meggs who came 
from Macoupin county. Richard L. Porter was the first 
child born in the township. The first death was that of 
Wm. Herron. The first wedding was that of Alexander 
Grove and Polly Ashmore. Among the citizens who have 
been honored are John Pemberton and Matthew Langston. 
Uncle Tacky was chosen associate justice of the county in 
1849. He was chosen to represent the county in the lower 
house at an early day. It is said that Uncle Jacky was a 
great man to electioneer and sometimes would get over in 
Tazewell to get votes. A vote was taken for and against 
township organization in 1861. the vote for adoption being 
carried. The Hon. Lyman Lacy, of Havana, Major Gatton. 
of Bath, and Matthew Langston. of Manito. were chosen 
commissioners to divide the county in townships, and Mat- 
thew Langston was the supervisor for three terms in suc- 
cession. In 1865 he was elected to the office of county 
judge, but resigned at the close of two years. In 1871 he 
was elected to the legislature, and then engaged in mer- 
chandising in Manito. 



THE ALLWOOD TRAGEDY 

In [849 or 1850, Benjamin Allwood, with two sons, 
Jack and Hugh Allwood, settled south of Manito. The 
Allwood family had some money and entered a lot of the 
best land in the township. From various causes they be- 
came unpopular with their neighbors. The feeling grew 
until it culminated in open demonstrations, and in 1854 a 
partly in disguise waited on the Allwoods and informed them 
that they must leave the county. The Allwoods told them 
that they had come to stay and did not intend to be fright- 
ened away. Xot long afterwards, a en »p of wheat was burned 



302 History of Mason County 

in the stack. It was the impression that the Alhvoods knew 
something about the burning of the wheat and the Alhvood 
crop was burned in retaliation. This was followed up by 
the burning of the house and the shooting of Hugh and one 
of his sisters. The shooting, however, did not prove fatal. 
After the burning of their home, the Alhvood family moved 
to Quiver and remained a short time. Returning, they 
built a hewn log house and set about raising crops. In 
the fall of 1856, while Jack Alhvood was in his field cut- 
ting up corn, he was shot by unknown parties and killed. 
This put an end to the prosecution of the parties supposed 
to have been engaged in the destruction of their crops. 



VILLAGE OF MANITO 

The village of Manito was surveyed and platted by 
James Boggs for James K. Cox, Robert M. Cox and Wil- 
liam A. Langston. In 1858, soon after laying out the town, 
Hugh Fullerton, of Havana, acquired an interest for the 
influence exerted by him in securing the site for a depot. 
One hundred and ten acres were laid out in blocks, streets 
and alleys. Manito did not increase much until the close of 
the war. 

Egypt Station had the advantage in the beginning, as 
she already had the advantage of two or more stores and 
the postoffice, but Manito secured the depot, and the scepter 
departed from Egypt. Spring Lake was established in 1851 
and contributed to the building up of Manito by giving her 
business men and population to swell the newly begun vil- 
lage. The residence of James K. Cox stood near the cen- 
ter of the town. The first business house was erected by 
Jams K. Cox and occupied by E. A. Rosher as a general 
merchandise store. The second store was kept by J. P. and 



History of Mason County 303 

A. Trent. A. M. Pollard opened a grocery store in 1861. 
S. Mosher started a drug store in 1865. In 1868 Smith, 
Hippen & Co. built an elevator at a cost of $5,000.00. which 
was operated by Fred Knollhoff. Previous to the building 
of the elevator, J. P. Cranvill had bought grain and shipped 
it in sacks. J. A. McComas built an elevator in 1878. 
Grier & Co., of Peoria, took charge of it; it was burned in 
1879. T ne village of Manito is conceded to be the best 
grain point between Pekin and Havana. The village was 
incorporated under the Springfield and Ouincy act in 1866, 
and continued under this act until 1875, when it was re- 
organized under the general law for cities and villages. 
The Methodist Church was first built in 1867. Among the 
early preachers we find the names of Middleton, Sloan and 
Goldsmith. Rev. Sloan walked over his circuit. He said 
his master never rode and that he was no better than his 
master. 1 le always wore a blue jeans suit. In 1870 J. N. 
Shantholzer erected a steam mill, having two runs of stones 
and capable of turning out twenty barrels a day. 

The early settlers of the village were fond of playing 
jokes upon each other and sometimes attacked strangers. 
Before it was incorporated, a man by the name of Moore 
came there and desired a license to keep a saloon. He ap- 
proached Joe Cranvill on the subject. Joe charged him 
$25.00, which he paid. Joe shoved the money down into 
his pocket and then, letting the boys into the secret, spent 
most of it in setting them up. Nothing was said about it 
and it was some time before the man found out that he had 
been tricked out of his money. 

The early citizens will remember the days when the 
High Cod court existed. It was not a chartered institu- 
tion, but it existed. Some individual would be charged 
with a crime and the court would assemble and proceed to 
try the offender. The person presiding was called "Honor- 
able fudge Advocate," and his opinion was final in all 



304 



History of Mason County 



matters that came before him. Witnesses were called who 
were not expected to tell the truth. Indeed, the oath ad- 
ministered had a saving clause for the prosecution in these 
words : "And you furthermore swear that you will not 
tell the truth in the case now T pending." No matter how 
clearly the defendant might prove his innocence, convic- 
tion was sure to follow. The penalty was the drinks for 
the crowd and usually cost the defendant $1.00. But those 
days have long since passed away and yet the old citizens 
love to recount them and live over their early days of fun 
and frolic. The name "Manito" was taken from the In- 
dian word, "Manitou," the meaning of which can hardly 
be determined. 




CHAPTER XXXI. 




ALLEN'S GROVE TOWNSHIP 

HE FIRST settler in Allen's Grove township, 
that we have any account of, was a man named 
Allen. He came to the grove, that bears his 
name in 1830. He had a crop of wheat the 
winter of the deep snow, having forty acres which is said 
to have yielded fifty bushels per acre. What disposition 
he made of it is not known, as there was no market nearer 
than Pekin or Peoria. It is said by some, that a man by the 
name of Smith settled there about the same time. Both 
were bachelors. Of Smith nothing is known. Allen is 
said to have come from Kentucky and. after staying at 
the Grove two years, to have gone to St. Louis. The 
account given of these two primitive squatters is more tra- 
ditional than historical. David Taylor came from Ten- 
nessee in [831 and bought Allen's claim, lie resided there 
till his death and was buried near the spot where he had 
lived so many years. A number of his relatives are still 
living in the township. The first entry of land in the town- 
ship was made by Benjamin Kellogg, of Pekin. This was 
under a patent from the United States, bearing date Sep- 
tember 29, [832. Samuel Larrimore had settled near 
Mackinaw in an early day and came to Allen's ( irove near 
the close of the "thirties," though the exact date of his 
removal could not be ascertained. He remained a citizen 
until he unwed to Kansas. James Iliggins and James 
Sherry came there early in 1X44 from Kentucky. Sherry 



306 History of Mason County 

was a single man but married a daughter of David Taylor. 
Settlements were made slowly for several years until 
land began to grow scarce in favored localities. Harvey 
Hawthorn settled east of the Grove in 1848. He was from 
Kentucky, but moved from Crane Creek before he came to 
Allen's Grove. After a residence of several years he moved 
back to Crane Creek. About the same time the settlement 
was increased by the coming of Hiram Stanton, Alex. 
Woods, Levi Engle and George Alkers. Stanton was from 
New Jersey, Woods and Alkers from Ohio, while Engle 
was a Hoosier and also a preacher. These were all in 
the township before 1850. During the years of 1850 and 
185 1 the following new settlers came in: Samuel Hingle- 
ford, George and Lewis Dowell, John Nagle, William Legg, 
Hank Wadkins, Benjamin Davenport, Joseph Taylor, 
George Leoni and Jackson Houchin. These all settled not 
far from the Grove, and it was some years later before any 
settlers had courage to venture out on the prairies. The 
most of those who located- in the township as early as 
1 85 1, have crossed the dark river or sought other fields 
of labor. Jack Roundtree came from Ohio in 185 1 with 
Magee. He had quite an amount of money for one in those 
days and, there being no banks at that time, he intrusted 
it to Mother Earth. Some time after burying it he decided 
to make a draw on his bank and after much fruitless search- 
ing he gave it up for lost. Some days after, a hen scratch- 
ing for her daily food, scratched it up and brought the 
lost treasure to the surface. The Houchin family came 
from Kentucky to Indiana in 1836. In 1850 Jackson sev- 
ered the ties that bound him to the paternal roof, and set 
sail in an ox team for Mason county. He built a cabin 
and spent the summer and winter of 1850 in Salt Creek 
township. In 185 1 he came to Allen's Grove, entered a 
quarter section, built a cabin and began farming. At the 
date of his settlement, but three cabins had been erected. 



History of Mason County 307 

On the road to Delavan, a distance of fourteen miles, on 
either hand the broad expanse of prairie stretched away 
as far as the eye could reach. The first year after Houchin 
came proved to be a very sickly one, and to such an extent 
did bilious fever, flux, chills and fever prevail that there 
were but two well families in the whole settlement. The 
doctors were not then found, as now, on every cross road 
and in every town and hamlet. Hiram Sykes. who in this 
day would be considered a "home made physician," lived 
in Sugar Grove and to his hands the entire settlement com- 
mitted their destiny. By strict attention to his patients he 
restored them to health and at the end of a month's faith- 
ful service he had ><> conquered the disease as to be per- 
mitted to visit his own home, the first time since coming to 
Allen's Grove. The following year, a difficulty having 
arisen between him and his son, he mounted his horse 
and rode away and did not return. During the years 
of [852 and [853 the names of Daniel Dillon, Jonathan 
Hyatt, Talmon and the McKinneys were added to the 
settlers of the township. Dillon was a native of North 
Carolina. Eight brothers of them came west and settled 
on the north side of Mackinaw in [822. They opened up 
farms near Tremont in what is now Dillon township. The 
red men in the forest were their only neighbors. Their early 
habitations gave rest and comfort to many a way worn 
traveler without money or price. At the time of settle- 
ment, they were included in the limits of Sangamon county. 
ills brother, Nathan, was a justice of the peace and his 
jurisdiction extended to ('hit-ago. Daniel Dillon took up 
his residence in Allen's Grove township in [852. He was 
one of the proprietors of San Jose. Hyatt and the Mc- 
Kinneys were from Indiana. Talmon was from the east 
and had spent much of his life upon the sea. The nearest 
trading point was Delavan. To purchase the smallest 
amount of merchandise it required a journey of thirty 



308 History of Mason County 

miles ; to get a plow sharpened, it took the same amount 
of travel. Their milling was done at Mackinaw, either at 
Doolittle's or Woodrow's mills. Their mail was also re- 
ceived from Delavan. 

The era of railroads gave every section conveniences to 
which they were strangers before. Dr. J. P. Walker was 
the first medical practitioner. In 1857 he helped to lay out 
Mason City and in 1859 made it his permanent home. The 
first school building was erected in 1853. The old log 
schoolhouse is still dear to memory. The first teacher was 
a Miss Woods, daughter of Aleck Woods. The earliest 
religious services were held by the Rev. Levi Engle, a 
preacher of the new light order. Rev. George Miller was 
the first circuit rider. Meetings were held in private houses 
till the schoolhouse was built. The remarkable hail storm 
that occurred throughout this section of the country on 
the 27th of May, 1852, is well remembered by the settlers. 
The storm was of short duration, yet the vast amount of 
hail that fell to the depth of six feet drifted so that on the 
Fourth of July following, large quantities could be 
gathered up. Mr. Houchin was an eye witness to this fact. 
As late as 185 1 four-fifths of the land in the township had 
not been entered. During the years of 185 1 and 1852 large 
tracts were entered by capitalists. 

With the completion of the C. & A. Railroad from 
Jacksonville to Bloomington came a flood of settlers and 
the establishment of towns along its line. Though of but 
recent settlement when compared with other sections of 
the county, in the importance and value of its products it 
ranks second to none in the county. It embraces within 
its limits large areas as well adapted to agriculture as any 
to be found in this entire region. Her educational inter- 
est has kept pace with her rapid development ; she is well 
supplied with schoolhouses in which school is kept most of 
the vear. 



History of Mason County 309 



VILLAGE OF SAN JOSE. 

This village is in the extreme northeast part of the 
township and was surveyed and platted by E. Z. Hunt, 
county surveyor, in 1857 for Daniel Dillon, Alexander W. 
Morgan, Silas Parker and Zenas B. Kedder. The original 
plat contained fifteen blocks, three hundred feet square, and 
eleven fractional blocks. These were subdivided into two 
hundred and thirty-five lots and fifteen fractional lots. The 
lots adjoining the railroad were donated to the company 
to secure the location of the depot. After laying out the 
village, a public sale of lots was held and $3,000 was 
realized. Private sales were made until $4,000 or $5,000 
was realized. The investment in many instances proved a 
loss, inasmuch as the town failed to grow as rapidly as 
the purchasers anticipated, and many, feeling that they had 
made a bad investment, sold their interest at a sacrifice. 
Moses C. Hicks made an addition in 1868. At a later 
date, Willis Graft and John Lineberger made an addition 
on the east. This last was just across the line in Logan 
county. Moses C. Hicks erected the first residence in the 
village — a business house and residence combined. In this 
building he opened a general stock of merchandise in 1858. 
He came from Atlanta. Logan county, where he had been 
engaged in the same business. The second building was 
erected by Morgan and Luper and was occupied as a hard- 
ware store. Dillon and Morgan soon became the pro- 
prietors of this store, and at the end of six months Dillon 
bought Morgan out. With the exception of a few small 
buildings, the village took a rest for a few years. On the 
prospective completion of the railroad, a new life was in- 
fused into the almost defunct village, and a number of 
dwellings and business houses were built. Xat Beardsley, 
from Jersey ville, opened up a stock of merchandise in 1862 



310 History of Mason Counts 

and 1863, and after operating it for two years sold it to 
Dr. Knapp and went back to Jerseyville. In 1865 Dr. 
Charles D. Knapp built and opened a drug store. Hull 
and Morrison came from Henry in 1866, moving into a 
building occupied by Chestnut as a hardware store. In 
time, others came, and San Jose was soon on a firm basis. 

The first grain merchants were Beck and Scott, who 
began the handling of grain in 1866. A warehouse, built 
bv Peter Defries, was converted into an elevator by Buck 
and Brother and was the first in the village. In 1866 
Moses C. Hicks built a steam elevator, which was de- 
stroyed by fire in 1868. Thomas Little operated a ware- 
house here and then moved it to Teheran. Moses C. Hicks 
erected a large and commodious hotel at a cost of $6,000; 
at one time he had forty-two regular boarders, besides the 
transient customers. In the same year, C. B. Vanhorn 
moved the machinery of the grist mill from Atlanta and 
began to manufacture flour. 

Allen's Grove lies high and dry. Towards the west, 
for twenty miles, the land was once a swamp and was not 
considered of much value. To the south of the Grove, high 
land is soon struck. On the north the swamp extended 
for ten miles, bait with artificial drainage the whole country 
has been changed and no finer body of land is to be found. 
The Linewebber ditch drains the water from the swamp 
ground and the country has become a paradise for the 
farmer. The country north of Allen's Grove is a high 
ridge where you can have a view for fifteen miles west. 
Allen's Grove is nearly twenty miles from Forest City, yet 
it is in plain view and would not be taken to be more than 
ten miles. One-half of San Jose is in Mason county, the 
other half in Logan county. At San Jose three counties 
can be seen at one glance, namely. Mason, Logan and Taze- 
well. 




CHAPTER XXXII. 

PENNSYLVANIA TOWNSHIP 

ENNSYLVANIA township is in Township 21, 
Range 6, west of the Third Principal Meridan, 
and is bounded on the north by Forest City and 
Manito townships, east, south and west by 
Allen'- Grove, Mason City and Sherman townships. It 
contains thirty-six full townships and is all prairie, except 
Red Oak Grove. Teheran is the only village in the town- 
ship. Ambrose Edwards was the first settler and made 
an improvement in Red Oak Grove. 

Francis I >orrell came to the state in [835 and came from 
Sangamon county in [839. He made the second improve- 
ment in the township. When he settled, there was not a 
human habitation visible 0,1 the north, east or west. 
Stretching away to the north, at sunset, the village of Dela- 
van was sometimes visible twenty-five miles away. About 
the same date William Briggs settled near where the village 
( »f Teheran stands. 

Peter Speice came from Ohio in early 1850. His father 
in law. George Swaggert, followed. They both settled 
two miles north of Leases Grove, but after a few years 
moved to Tazewell comity. A year or so after there was a 
large influx of population. 

In the fall of [838, Henry Cease came from Pennsyl- 
vania. He stopped a short time in Havana, hut soon bought 
a farm and engaged in farming. During the summer of 
1851, Joseph and Abraham Cease. Jimerson Wandel, John 



312 History of Mason County 

W. Pugh and Benedict Hadsell all came from the same 
section of the country. The Ceases all had families, while 
Wandel, Pugh and Hadsell were single men. 

In December, 1851, Henry Cease, J. H. Wandel and 
Abraham Cease went east to explore the country. On 
reaching what is now Pennsylvania, they determined to 
locate and began making farms. They entered one hundred 
and sixty acres apiece and pre-empted the same amount. 

In the summer of 1852, Abraham and Joseph Cease 
each built a frame house and began to improve their land. 
In April, John W. Pugh went back to Ohio, and prevailed 
upon Wandel to accompany him. When Wandel got back, 
he found a sale at his uncle's and father-in-law's. They 
were preparing to move to Mason county, attracted by 
the glowing accounts that Wandel had written about Mason 
county. After a short sojourn among his native hills, in 
company with James Wandel, his father; Isaac Hanney- 
hill, a brother-in-law, and George Wandel, an uncle, and 
their families, they turned their faces westward. They 
made the journey by water and were seven weeks coming 
from Pittsburg to Havana. In severing the ties that bound 
them to their native land, they went forth to battle with 
the difficulties and privations incident to pioneer life, with 
their hopes and expectations bright as to the new homes 
they were about to make, but a great grief came over them. 
Mrs. Hanneyhill, who had sickened on the way, died when 
they reached Havana. Heart broken and discouraged, and 
with five small children. Mr. Hanneyhill, with J. H. Wan- 
del, retraced their steps back to Pennsylvania for a time. 
Wandel seemed to belong to the floating population. Dur- 
ing his stay in Pennsylvania, he married Miss Sarah E. 
Depugh. 

In the fall of 1852, with his father-in-law, Aaron De- 
pugh, he again came to Mason county. In the summer of 
1853 h e b^^ a bouse and broke forty acres of land. The 



History of Mason County 313 

others mentioned settled in the eastern portions of the 
county. Philip Cease came in 1852 and settled south of 
Wandel. George Wandel purchased an improved farm 
near where the village of Teheran now stands. This was 
the farm owned and occupied by William Briggs. James 
Wandel entered and improved a farm in Section 27. The 
Depugh family settled across the line in Salt Creek town- 
ship. 

During the spring and summer of 1853. the following 
settlers were added : George and Alexander Benscoter, 
William Legg. Asa Greigory and Joe Statler. The Bens- 
coters and Greigorys were from Pennsylvania, Statler from 
Ohio, and Legg from Indiana. Legg entered the land 
pre-empted by J. H. Wandel. The summer following he 
sold out to George \Y. and Alex Benscoter. Asa Greigory 
settled in the northwest corner of the township, remained 
a few years and then sold out and returned east. Joseph 
Statler settled in the south part, a short distance north of 
the present village of Teheran, on land now owned by J. 
McClurg and J. II. .Matthew-. Statler was a fine husines3 
man and of strict integrity and his duties were well and 
ably performed. D. V. Benscoter located east of Statler's. 
Jack Conroy from Ohio made improvements in the sum- 
mer of 1854. in the southeast corner of the School Section 
where James Hurley now lives. 

About the -anie time Daniel and James Riner and Dave 
Cruise became citizens of the township. In [856, J. Phink 
from Pennsylvania made a farm in the south part of the 
township and was soon followed by his father-in-law, Jacob 
Benscoter. Many of the first settlers have gone to their 
long hoi nes, but many of their descendants remain and oc- 
cupy the farms entered and improved by their fathers. 

Of other citizens who moved into the township prior to 
i860, we find the names of Andy Farror A. J. Gates Alex. 
Blunt, Charles lladsell. J. L. Ingersoll, T. L. Kendle, Joel 



314 History of Mason County 

Severns, W. K. Terrill and John Van Horn. Gates was 
from Tennessee and Blunt from Kentucky, Hadsell, Severns 
and Van Horn from Pennsylvania, Ingersoll from Ohio, 
Kendle and Terrill from New Jersey. Ingersoll settled in 
the northwestern part of the township and the remainder in 
the eastern and central part of the township ; Terrill in the 
southwestern part. 

John W. Pugh, who was prominently identified with 
the interest of the township, deserves more than a passing 
notice. He is mentioned as coming to the county in 1850. 
He did not locate in Pennsylvania township till 1864. Since 
that time he has served in the capacity of supervisor for 
eleven years. In 1874, he was chosen a member of the legis- 
lature, and here his influence was felt. 

The earliest settlers were not wholly exempt from the 
inconveniences and difficulties which ever attend the pioneers 
of a new country. The Iron Horse had not then entered 
Mason City. Havana was the only point of shipment and 
sale of the extra produce, and a large part of the year an 
impassible swamp lay between them and it, and in order for 
them to get their grain to market, it was sometimes neces- 
sary to reload it five or six times. So accustomed were 
the teams to miring that as soon as a halt was made they 
would lie down for fear of finding the bottom some dis- 
tance below the surface if they remained standing. 

Much of the early settler's time was consumed in mar- 
keting his produce, and crossing the swamp successfully 
with a good load could only be accomplished in the winter. 
Those coming in since the era of railroads know but little 
by experience of the trials that the settler of 1849 an ^ the 
early "fifties" endured. Their milling was done at Mack- 
inaw and later years at Simmond's and McHarry's on 
Quiver. The nearest postoffice was at Havana, some fifteen 
or eighteen miles. The first schoolhouse was built in Penn- 
sylvania Lane in 1854. Miss Martha Randle was the first 



History of Mason County 315 

teacher. The early ministers were Rev. Mowry, Randall 
and Sloan. They belonged to the M. E. Church. The 
early meetings were held in schoolhonses. After a few 
years, through deaths and removals, the society became 
so reduced in numbers that the field was abandoned till 
1873, when the Presbyterians organized a society and 
erected a church building. Rev. S. J- Bogle was the first 
pastor and gave his services to the church the first year 
free of charge. The early members of the church were 
John Van Horn and wife and daughter. Mrs. Carem. John 
W. Pugh and wife and Mrs. Mary Potoff. A few mem 
bers of the Baptist Church resided in the vicinity, and the 
sheep were led occasionally by the Rev. Hobbs, of Mason 
City. Dr. J. B. Walker of Mason City dispensed the healing 
art. The first death was that of Mr-. James W'andel, who 
died in [854. The wife of Joseph Cease died a few months 
later. The first marriage was Jimerson W'andel and Miss 
Sarah Depugh in the fall of 1852. 

The first birth cannot be ascertained. Jimerson W'andel 
was the first justice of the peace. Pennsylvania has always 
been democratic. Taken as a whole, it i> an average town- 
ship and a good agricultural township. 

Teheran is the only village in Pennsylvania township, 
and is seven miles west of Mason City. It was laid out on 
land belonging to Aleck Blunt. Soon after it was laid out 
A. J. Gates put up a building and opened tip a grocery store 
1). L. Whitney was a merchant once and David Everett was 
al>o ;i merchant. The postoffice was established in 1874. 
with W. T. Rich as postmaster. The amount of grain 
handled in Teheran exceeds 100,000 bushels. Teheran is 
in the heart of a good agricultural county, and has its daily 
mail and the conveniences of the larger towns, but Easton 
on the west and Mason City on the east act as checks to its 
growth. 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



SHERMAN TOWNSHIP 




HIS township was organized in 1866. It was 
first named Jackson township, but the name of 
General Sherman was then at its zenith. Sher- 
man had, only a few years before, made his 
memorable march to the sea and had endeared his name to 
every American patriot. So at the meeting in 1867 the 
name of Jackson was stricken out and the name of Sherman 
substituted. 

Sherman contains thirty-six sections which makes a 
square congressional township. Only two small bodies of 
timber are in the township. Crane Marsh and Bulls Eye. 
A county ditch was the first effort to drain the land embraced 
in the scope of the township. 

The boundaries of Sherman are as follows : It was 
south of Quiver and Forest City, west of Pennsylvania 
north of Crane Creek and east of Havana township. 

As an agricultural township it did not rank very high 
till in later years. Artificial drainage has reclaimed a large 
part of the land. Fully three-fourths of the territory be- 
longed to a class known as swamp land. 

The first improvement in what is now Sherman was made 
by Thomas K. Faulkner. He was originally from New 
York and had settled in Dearborn county in 181 5. In 
1830 Thomas, then a married man, moved to Madison 
county, and settled on the bank of the White river. In 
1838 he moved to Tazewell, now Mason county. He built 
a log cabin and began to open up a farm. After a residence 
of ten years he moved to Salt Creek where he died. 



History of Mason County 317 

In the summer of 1839 Mahalon Hibbs and his sons, 
William and Eli, together with his son-in-law, John Hamp- 
ton, came from Pennsylvania and settled in the same sec- 
tion. Mahalon Hibbs made an improvement and died in 
the fall. William Hibbs entered land and improved it and, 
after living on it for six years, traded it for land in Sanga- 
mon county. John Hampton located west of his father-in- 
law, and then moved to Shelby county. 

Mrs. Catherine Dentler and family came from Pennsyl- 
vania, and settled south of those named. She moved to 
Nebraska and died there in 1878. Sol Dentler, a nephew, 
came with the family and entered land but did not improve 
it. In the fall of 1839 he traded his land to Henry Cease. 

The citizens mentioned composed the settlers in this 
locality, prior to 1844. West of these and towards Havana 
seven or eight families settled along the borders of the 
wood-. There were. Coder. McReynolds, Faulkner, Eli 
Fisk, Brown, Fester, and a few others. This made all the 
families east of I lavana. Nearly all of the land was un- 
broken prairie, where roamed at pleasure vast herds of deer 
and wolves. John R. Faulkner relates that in the spring of 
1840, he, with two others, counted on Bull's Eye prairie 
fifty nine in one gang and forty-two in another, all in sight 
at one time. 

lame- 1 1. Chase was next in order. He came to Mason 
county in [844 where he made improvements and lived till 
his death. Joseph Lehr settled in the northwest part of the 
township. lie bought two acres of land from William 
Hibbs for a location. He made a claim and improved it, 
and lived there till his death. Lehr was from Ohio. Among 
the settlers in 184S. we find the names of Henry Cease. John 
Blakely, William and John Alexander, and Charles Trotter. 
Cease was from Pennsylvania, and a large number from the 
same locality settled in Pennsylvania township. He pur- 
chased the improvements of Thomas K. Faulkner and then 



318 History of Mason County 

moved farther east on the Kellerman land. Blakely and the 
Alexanders were from Ohio and settled farther east. Blake- 
ly continued a citizen till his death. The Alexanders first 
settled in Havana township but moved to Sherman. Wil- 
liam located on the edge of Crane Creek timber, then went 
to Missouri, and John sold out and returned to Ohio. 
Charles Trotter was an Englishman and came from Massa- 
chusetts. Peter Morganstein remained but a few years 
and then moved to Beardstown, where he died. About 
this time Mrs. Davenport and family, consisting of five sons, 
Henry, Lewis, William, Joseph and Marshall, settled in the 
southeastern part of the township near the present town of 
Easton. Her husband, Marshall B. Davenport, came from 
Kentucky in 1832 and died in Salt Creek township in 1840. 
Passing down to 1850 we find Samuel Adkins, Granville 
Cheney, Vincent Singleton and Alexander Haller. These 
all settled on what is known as Bull's Eye prairie. Adkins 
and Haller were from Tennessee, Cheney was from Ken- 
tucky. Adkins settled in the northwest corner of Bull's 
Eye and sold out to Henry Cease who, after living here for 
several years, went to Kansas. Cheney moved to Dewitt 
county, where he lost his wife by accident. Singleton 
moved to Salt Creek. Haller moved to Havana. William 
G. Stone was a citizen as late as 1850; he came from Ten- 
nessee to Mason county. Amos Heater still lives in Sher- 
man township. Spellman only lived a couple of weeks after 
he built his house. H. Elderbush settled on the edge of 
Crane Creek marsh. In about 1852 James M. Samuels, 
a prominent citizen, settled where the village of Easton now 
stands. The family of the Samuels were originally from 
old Virginia and all have the Southern brogue in their talk. 
In the spring of 1835, his father, Andrew Samuels, came 
to Illinois and settled in Morgan county. 

When J. M. Samuels first settled in Sherman township, 
there was no one living east of him in the township and, 



History of Mason County 319 

with the exception of Mrs. Davenport there was no one on 
the south, before reaching the settlers on Crane Creek. He 
was the original owner of Easton. The Kislers and their 
families came from Pennsylvania, and first stopped in Ha- 
vana. 

What Chicago is to the west so Havana was to the 
early settlers of Mason county. It was the point to which 
all their produce must be brought for sale, and was the 
place where they obtained their dry goods and groceries. 
Hogs were driven to Beardstown and there slaughtered and 
sold to packers. My father used to go there through he 
winter and run his cooper shop. It was thirty-five miles 
fmm Salem, which he .always made in a day on foot, as he 
always walked. In regard to milling, meal was ground at 
Mount's mill on Crane Creek but when flour was wanted 
they had to go to Woorow's or ECinman's mill in Mackinaw 
or to Wentworth mill on ( >tter (.'reek in Fulton county, but 
they generally went to Mackinaw, as the price of the ferriage 
across the Illinois was eighty-seven and one-half cents and 
money was very scarce in those days and several days were 
sometimes consumed in making the trip as they always 
waited for their grist. In a later period when Simmond's 
and Mcllarry's mills were built, it brought the mills almost 
at their doors. The early settlers scarcely ever thought 
that such a convenience would occur in their generation. 
The mail matter was received at Havana and on public days 
was carried around on Dearborn's hat. Martin 'Scott 
erected the first blacksmith shop in 1844. This was across 
the line in Havana township. Eli Hibbs built the first shop 
in the township in 1848. 

Mr-. Eliza Dentler was the first school teacher who 
"taught the young idea how to shoot." The school was 
kept at the house of her mother. The first schoolhouse was 
supposed to be on the land of James H. Chase. Abe Miller- 
son was the first teacher. The circuit rider came early and 
Michael Shunk was perhaps the first. Rev. Moreland and 



320 History of Mason County 

Hardin Wallace soon shied their hats in the ring. Most 
of the early settlers remember Hardin Wallace, a small, 
spare man full of wit and eccentricities who preached in 
every schoolhouse in Mason county. He went to Califor- 
nia in the "seventies" and died while there. The first doctor 
was William Coder, who also ws a preacher and healed the 
souls as well as the bodies of men. Doctor Allen was also 
here at an early date. Elizabeth Hampton and Mahalon 
Hibbs were among the first births in the township. The 
first death to occur was that of the wife of Thomas K. 
Faulkner, who died in 1839. She was buried on the farm 
of Robert McReynolds. The first person buried in this 
cemetery was Grandma Fesler in 1838. The first wedding 
was either John McReynolds and Catherine Dentler or Al- 
fred Houel and Eliza Faulkner, but which was first, no one 
at present seems to know. The patriotism of Sherman was 
very creditable and no draft was necessary to fill her quota 
in the last unpleasantness. M. H. Lewis was the first super- 
visor. Easton is half way between Havana and Mason 
City. The town was surveyed by John R. Faulkner for 
J. M. Samuels in 1872. Edward D. Terrill built the first 
store building in November, 1872, and opened up with a 
general stock of merchandise. Diebold F. Turner opened 
up a saloon and then engaged afterward in general mer- 
chandise. Henry Cooper built the first residence. It was 
finally turned into a hotel and operated by Charles Dowell. 
A drug store was built by David Carter, but soon developed 
into a saloon. J. M. Samuels built the first blacksmith shop. 
A fine schoolhouse was erected and a union church built. 
Ed. Merrill was the first postmaster. C. W. Houghton was 
the first doctor to locate. He took in as a partner D. L. T. 
Magill. Easton was laid out as Shermanville but, as a 
postoffice by that name was in Sangamon county, it had to 
be changed and was named by O. C. Easton of Havana. 
Situated as it is on one of the finest agricultural districts in 
the county, it is one of the important towns in the county. 






CHAPTER XXXIV 



MASON CITY TOWNSHIP 




AS< )X CITY township is bounded on the north by 
Allen's Grove and Pennsylvania township, on 
the east by Logan county, on the south by Salt 
< !reek, on the west by Salt Creek township. It 
is the best body of land in any township in Mason county, 
being all tillable high prairie. It was surveyed in [823; 
at that time there was not a person living within its bounds, 
and nothing was heard save the yell of the Indian or the 
howl of the wolf from the time when the memory of man 
runneth not to the contrary. Along the belt on Salt Creek 
was the camping ground of the red man. Mason City 
township was covered with a luxuriant growth of blue stem 
grass, and the prairie fires every fall swept over its whole 
territory, leaving a black dismal spectacle. No person 
who never saw these prairie fires can imagine the grandeur 
of the scene. Imagine a wall of fire fifty feet in height 
and as wide as the eye can extend coming toward you at 
the rate of twenty miles an hour; all the wild animals and 
binl> fleeing for life before it: the heavens lighted up with 
an unearthly glare and the roar of the flames drowning 
out every noise. Sometimes the dames would jump a 
hundred feet in advance, and set the grass on fire ahead. 
These fires gained strength as they burned and a current 
of air would give them a new impetus, and they never 
stopped till they had burned out for want of something 



322 History of Mason County 

to consume. We have seen these fires burn from Lease's 
Grove to Quiver, a distance of fifteen miles. 

Mason City was a great shipping point, but the Illinois 
Central, running from Havana to Champaign, with Easton 
and Teheran on the west and New Holland on the east, cut 
off a big slice of her grain receipts, and Mason City is not 
what it used to be, yet it is a nice clean town, and may well 
be stvled the Gem of the Prairie. 

The first settlement in the township was made by Isaac 
Engle in 1830 on the Donovan place, at the northeast side 
of Swing's Grove. In the same year John Powell built a 
round log house on the west side, now owned and occu- 
pied by C. L. Stone. This was succeeded by a hewn log 
house built by Austin Melton. Here Melton lived till 1849, 
and kept a ferry across Salt Creek, and for him Melton's 
Ford was named. He then moved to Mackinaw, then to 
Walker's Grove, where he died in 1877. Melton's place 
was taken by John Alkers, who built a frame house. 

Isaac Engle, who settled on the Donovan place, sold to 
Michael and Abraham Swing and moved to Fulton county. 
The Swing brothers were both unmarried at the time, and 
by a trade, Michael became the sole owner of the land which 
up to 1840 had been held in partnership. Mr. Swing was 
a surveyor and also taught school in addition to his other 
business in 185 1 and '52. He taught school at Big Grove, 
riding six miles each way, and received for his service one 
dollar per day. In the year of 1840 Ephraim Brooner built 
a round log house on what is now the Cease and Hubly 
place, about a quarter of a mile west of the old Beebe place, 
now owned by John Appleman. Mr. Brooner died in 1841, 
and his widow married Rezin Virgin, one of the pioneers 
of Salt Creek township, as will appear farther on. In 1840 
the tide of emigration set in and Robert Melton and D. S. 
Swing, of Swing's Grove and Stiles, and Homer Peck, of 



History of Mason County 323 

Prairie Creek, settled in the township that year. D. S. 
Swing, since i860, has been a resident of Mason City 
and improved the land now occupied by C. L. Stone. A 
beautiful cemetery in Swing's Grove was set apart by them 
and has had a steady growth, till it now numbers its in- 
habitants by the hundreds. Other grave yards were located 
in the neighborhood, but after the Swing Cemetery was 
established they were discontinued. Stiles and Homer Peck 
made a settlement on Prairie Creek near where New Holland 
now stands. 

The dwelling houses in the early days, of which we will 
give a description were eighteen by twenty, made of round 
logs, notched at the corners so as to make the logs fit as 
closely a- possible and give as much strength as possible. 
Chimneys were constructed of split sticks and clay, which 
were always at the west end of the house, so that the west 
winds would be better resisted. These houses always had a 
kitchen, sitting-room, parlor and bed-room, but all in one. 
At meal time, it was all kitchen. On rainy days when all 
the neighbors came there to relate their exploits, how many 
deer and turkeys they had killed, it was the sitting-room. 
( In Sunday when the young men all dressed up in their 
jc-ans, and the young ladies in their best tow dresses, it was 
all parlor. At night is was all bed-room. The crevices be- 
tween the logs afforded ample ventilation. An accident is 
recorded where a family went off one Sunday and the cattle 
came around the house, and with their long tongues licked 
out the bed clothing and, in fact, everything out of the 
house, so when the family returned they found everything 
gone. The houses were covered with clapboards, held to 
their places by rib poles underneath and weight poles on 
top. The floors were made of puncheons four inches in 
thickness and six feet along the sides, and they were hewn 
so they lit nicely and kept the foot from going down between 
the puncheons. 



324 History of Mason County 

There has been a number of tragedies in Mason City. In 
the fall of 1864, Frank M. Jones, who had come from 
Virginia a few years before, and who was very outspoken 
in his views, had incurred the hostility of some who were 
of the opposite belief, and this soon ripened into a crisis. 
Tones was at that time teaching school a short distance 
from town. Learning that a man from Salt Creek, named 
Moses Thompson, had been in town several days to settle 
a grudge that had been sprung on election day, about a week 
before, armed himself with a double barrel shot gun. In 
the evening after school was dismissed, he proceeded to 
town where he saw Thompson on the south side of a saloon, 
which was kept in a building a short distance from the ele- 
vator, and heard his threats against him. He then passed 
through Swing's store and fired upon him, mortally wound- 
ing him, so he died the next day. Jones then leisurely 
walked away and was never captured or brought to trial. It 
is reported that he went to Missouri, and was afterwards 
himself shot and killed. 

The next was the tragic death of Dr. Chamlin in the 
spring of 1871, at the hands of Zoph Case. The fracas 
grew out of a contest of title to a quarter section of land 
adjoining town on the southeast. One night Case moved 
his house on one forty acres and occupied it that same night, 
claiming title from Tunison Case, which brought about an 
ejectment suit. In plowing in the spring of 1871, Chamlin 
ordered his men to plow across Case's yard in the forenoon. 
This Case would not allow them to do. The matter was re- 
ported Chamlin at noon, and when they went out to work 
in the afternoon, he took a shot gun and bade his plowmen 
to follow him, which they did. He had proceeded but a 
short distance in advance of the teams toward Case's prem- 
ises when he reached the disputed line. Case, who was 
watching him from his door, took up his gun and fired 
upon him, killing him instantly. Case surrendered and 



History of Mason County 



o-d 



after a continuous drag in the courts was finally cleared. 
In the spring of 1837, Charles H. Linticum, who was a 
farmer near Prairie Creek, committed a deadly assault upon 
Joseph Copperthwait. a farmer, they having met in town. 
The tragedy- occurred in J. D. Haws' harness shop. The 
assault was made with a revolver, Linticum shooting three 
times, the last shi »t taking effect in the side, glancing off 
on a rib. Great excitement prevailed and lynching was 
talked of, but the injured party proved to be not dangerously 
wounded. Linticum engaged Colonel Ingersol and, after 
dragging through several courts, the indictment was 
quasi led. 

The land on which Mason City stands was entered in 
1849 by William Maloney, who improved and settled on a 
forty-acre tract adjoining the corporation line on the north- 
\\ est. He built a cabin there* m. lie protected his crop from 
stock by making a sod fence around it. These fences were 
very common in pioneer days. They were made by a ditch 
three feet deep and three feet wide at the top and one foot at 
the bottom. The sod was carefully cut off in squares and 
built up back from the ditch three feet high, and the dirt 
from the ditch thrown hack of the sod. This made a fence 
that kepi most of the cattle out of the crop. George Straut, 
before the railroad was located, bought Maloney out, with a 
view of locating a station there. Straut was a member of 
the board of directors and had influence with the company. 
The original plat of the town contained two hundred and 
forty acres, three- fourths of a mile from north to south 
and one-half mile from east to west. The survey was made 
in September, 1857, by E. G. Hunt and J. M. Sweney. 
There has been a number of additions made to the original 
town from time to time, till Mason City now spreads over 
a large territory. These additions were offered for sale 
and found buyers. There was a public sale of lots in Sep- 
tember, which continued for several days. There were a 



326 History of Mason County 

large number of buyers, the number of people exceeding 
one thousands persons at times. The people were surprised 
at a town so far from any place. Notwithstanding, lots 
sold for from seventy-live dollars to three hundred dollars, 
according to location. The first building in the town was a 
blacksmith shop, put up by David Dare in the east part of 
town. The next was a frame building put up by Henry 
Keefer for mercantile purposes. A. A. Cargill was ap- 
pointed postmaster by James Buchanan. In the upper story 
Miss Rhoda Allen taught the first public school. The first 
newspaper was established by J. M. Haughy. The first 
religious service was held by Rev. Holtsclaw. The second 
store was that of C. Home. The Presbyterian Church was 
organized in 1858. in the upper story of the building erected 
by Joseph Elliott. The third store was that of Abram and 
S. D. Swing. The first hotel was a small frame, built by 
William Hibbard, on a lot donated by Mr. Strant. It was 
dedicated with a dance. Up to i860 all the merchandise, 
all lumber and every other commodity was hauled from 
Pekin. Havana and Forest City, which was a profitable 
business for teamsters. 

The first wedding of resident parties was Sheridan En 
lass and Miss Emma Hibbard. The ceremony was per 
formed by Selah Wheaton. The first child born in town 
was Charles M. Keifer in December, 1857. There was a 
great Fourth of July celebration held in Mason City in 
1858. Every man, woman and child went to celebrate, 
and it was a complete success. At an early hour the people- 
were all astir and long processions of teams came from 
every direction, and by 10 a. m. an immense crowd had 
gathered from all directions. A platform was erected and 
R. A. Hurt read the Declaration of Independence and Hon. 
William Walker, a prominent lawyer of Havana, delivered 
an oration, after which all repaired to the tables, which were 
loaded with the goodies with which the country abounded. 



History of Mason County 327 

The Fourth of July witnessed the advent of the first locomo- 
tive. This was hailed with great delight and wound up with 
a free fight between the railroad hands and the Mason City 
town bloods. The completion of the railroad set the whole 
county wild, and all the mechanics had all they could do to 
finish houses fast enough for the people to live in. This 
was at the close of the war and money was a great deal 
more plentiful then than now. All kind- of produce that 
the farmer- had to sell brought a good price. Improved and 
unimproved lots commanded a high price, and for a few 
years the growth of Mason City was the wonder and ad- 
miration of surrounding towns. In the winter of 1 SoS and 
'69 a City Charter was procured and the little town in the 
prairie began t<> assume city air-. An election was ordered 
and held to vote upon incorporating under the general In- 
corporating Act. which was carried by a large majority. 

City Public Son ,s. 

Mason City has reason to be proud of her public schools 

for here her children are well provided for. In [860 a 
frame school building was erected. It was finally decided 
after a v >te. t< > build a $21 >.< >< >< > sch< >< dhouse in the west addi- 
tion in 1S77. Further room was needed and the beautiful 
new brick was erected on the east side. 

Religious S< icieties. 

The Methodist Church has always been in the vanguard 
of civilization. Before [840, Havana was the central point 
of Methodism. The preacher made his headquarters here 
and radiated out over the sparsley settled country, always 
going on horseback, with his saddle bags tilled with some of 
the church literature, not forgetting the Methodist Almanac 
for which he always got ten cents apiece, but now the patent 
medicine man gives out gratis. 



328 History of Mason County 

The appointment, which the Mason City circuit formed, 
was first established at the Palock schoolhouse. Next in 
order comes the Baptists. It also had its origin at the 
Palock schoolhouse, but was bodily transferred to Mason 
City in 1859. Elder L. R. Hastings was the first resident 
minister, having settled on an improved farm east of town 
in 185 1, and he organized the church in 1856. 

The Presbyterian society was organized in 1857 by Rev. 
Templeton and Andrews. John Andrews had charge till 
1867, when S. J. Bogle assumed the pastoral charge. Serv- 
ices were held in the schoolhouse until the building of the 
frame church in 1871., It was decided to sell it and the 
present fine brick church was completed and dedicated in 
1872. The society has a membership of 200. 

The Catholic Church was organized in 1872 and pur- 
chased the frame church of the Presbyterians. They have 
added to it, so it suits their purposes. Union Chapel was 
a dilapidated dwelling in the southeast part of the town. 
In the spring of 1876, Ewing Sharp and Dr. Taylor formed 
a Mission Sunday school here for the special benefit of the 
poor in the city. A wonderful interest was soon aroused 
among those, who by their poverty considered themselves 
shut out of the means of grace, where so many attend more 
to display their new bonnets and silk than to display their 
piety. The building was soon found to be too small and an 
old billiard room was purchased and moved to a suitable 
place, remodeled and made comfortable. The first flour 
mill was built in 1868 by Hulshizer and Smith, the first 
banker. A. A. Cargill was the first merchant. C. Hume, 
another pioneer, was in business in 1858, but for several 
years was out upon a farm. Dr. A. R. Cooper was the 
first physician. Travis and Brown built the first elevator; 
Probst and Cutterell, the first drug store, and were suc- 
ceeded by Patterson and Conover ; they by J. S. Walker and 
he in turn by Kincaid & Bradley. The first newspaper was 



History of Mason County 329 

the Mason City News. The first issue was on July 4th, 
i 81 >-. the clay the C. & A. Railroad entered Mason City. 
The Mason City Journal was established in the fall oi 
1 87 1 by I. E. Knapp, he having bought out the Havana 
Review. It was edited by Cap. Stover when Knapp sold 
out to W. S. Walker. In [874 Walker sold out to Wells 
Corey and Dr. J. A. Walker. 

In 1868 Campbell & Porter opened up a bank in their 
double Mammoth store. Campbell & Porter did a large 
business for several years. There was a war between them 
and Sharp Brothers and competition ran so high that they 
sold plow-shoes at one time for twenty-five cents, and it is 
even said that the}- gave a man twenty-five cents to take a 
pair. It is said that both firms were driven to the wall by 
this foolish way of doing business, nor did their customers 
ever thank them for selling their goods so cheap. 

We want to pay a tribute to the memory of Labe Swing, 
the pronounced enemy of the whiskey traffic in Mason City. 
lie took a decided stand against the saloon because it was 
wrong and he never swerved from that stand. Though it 
cost him loss of friends and loss of trade, yet he stood 
linn and denounced it. lie was only in the advance of the 
age in which he lived, and his name will live in coming years 
when the saloonkeeper will be forgotten. 

Frank Smith and David Powell organized a bank. The 
Mason county Soldier Monument stands in the center of the 
city park. It was erected at the close of the war at thi 
of S5.000.00 and is a handsome tribute to the brave boys 
laid down their lives for their country. It has been 
the unvarying custom for the people to decorate the monu- 
ment on the 30th of May. The cemetery, located east of 
the city, is a beautiful city of the dead. It is beautifully 
laid out in squares and many line monuments have been 
erected by 1< wing hands. 



33° 



History of Mason County 



Mason City might be called a city of churches. The 
tall spires that reach heavenward would seem to indicate 
that they were spiritual. Mason City has two or three 
churches to one saloon, while Havana has three saloons to 
one church. 




CHAPTED XXXV. 



KILBOURNE TOWNSHIP 




[HEX the first white people came to Kilbourne 
it was then a part of Sangamon county. A few 
years later it was in Menard county and still 
later it was in Mason. Mrs. Blakeley and Dr. 
Field, among the oldest settlers, say that they lived in three 
counties without moving their residence. The first resident 
of Kilbourne township was Absalom Mount. He was from 
that portion of Sangamon, now Menard, where he had built 
a mill on Clary'- Creek, lie came here in [83] and settled 
in the southeast part of the present town of Kilbourne and 
there built a mill on Crane Creek. 

The next settlement was made by Gibson Garrett. He 
is supposed to have come From Virginia in [836. lie has 
li mg keen dead. 

Jesse Baker came in [836 and located in Morgan county. 
He came fr< »m Illin< is in [816. 

John Close and Charles Sidwell came a year or so after 
Garrett. Close was from the south, probably from Ken- 
tucky, and was an old man. 1 le died many years ago. 1 lis 
descendants are still living in Crane Creek township. Sid- 
well came from New York. He had one child, who married 
and went to Texas. 

The Fields and Blakeleys came in 1836. They are men- 
tioned in the history of Bath township. Drury S. Field 
entered a large amount of land. He built the third frame 



33 2 History of Mason County 

house in the county. His son, Dr. A. E. Field, lived in 
Kilbourne at its formation. James Blakeley came from New 
Jersey and first settled in Sangamon county, seven miles 
from Springfield and then crossed the river. He bought a 
cabin, on which ground the village of Kilbourne now stands. 
In this cabin he lived nine years and then moved to Havana 
township, where he died. He married a daughter of Aaron 
Scott. 

Thomas Martin and Joel Garrett came in 1837. Martin 
was from Kentucky. 

Henry Norris came from Kentucky and pitched his tent 
in the north part of the township. He built the third cabin 
in the vicinity. 

Jacob Cross may be called an early settler, but belonged 
to the floating population and did not remain long. He 
borrowed a span of horses, but neglected to return them. He 
was followed several hundred miles. The horses were re- 
covered, but Cross was not located. 

John Young was from Kentucky and came in 1838. He 
had a large family. His sons were Anderson, John, William 
and Mitchel. The elder Young died in 1847. 

The Daniels came in 1837 and were from Virginia. 
They consisted of G. W. Daniels and four sons. 

The Craggs were early settlers, but lived in that portion 
taken from Bath. 

Rev. Elisha Stevens was one of the early preachers and 
came from New York in 1839. He was a Methodist 
preacher. He died in 1855. 

John Pratt was from New York and located in 1838. 
He died after living here forty years. David Pratt came 
soon after. They had been living in Cass county. 

Moses Ray and his son, Aaron, settled on the present 
site of Kilbourne in the fall of 1838. James and Hiram 
Ray, sons of Moses Ray, came two years later. Moses Ray, 
the elder, died in December. 



History of Mason County 333 

John Crockson and John Lamb were from Posey county, 
Inch, the land of hoop poles and pumpkins. Crockson 
moved to Missouri. Lamb was a Dutchman and had a 
family of eleven children. They ranged in weight from 
one hundred and sixty to two hundred pounds. 

Dr. Mastic was an early settler and was from Ohio. 
He was the first doctor in the township. 

William McDaniels came in 1838 and died in 1854. 

James Ross moved in 1840 from the south. 

Abraham Williamson was from Kentucky. He came 
from Morgan county. William Morgan also came from 
Morgan county. 

Michael Ott, another Pennsylvanian, settled in 1841 and 
was an old man when he died. 

The Tolley Brothers came from Kentucky in 1842. 

These were the early settlers until 1845, when the pio- 
neers began to pour in with great rapidity. Among the ar- 
rivals were J. M. Hardin. John Ransom, Edward Gore, 
Joseph Groves, John McLain, A. 11. Xeal. James Angelo 
and Samuel Cannon, who made up the bone and sinew of the 
town. Dr. O'Neal came into the town at an early day from 
Bath. John B. Gam, one of the largest land holders, came 
from Petersburg. 

If any of the settlers of Bath or Crane Creek should find 
some errors in their location in the different townships, they 
must bear in mind that kilbourne was made out of other 
townships. 

The first preacher was Moses Raw a hardshell, who could 
sing and preach at the same time. He always had the A. H. 
at the same time. The Rev. M. Shunk, the Methodist 
preacher, was a Dutchman, a short, thick, heavy person. His. 
descendants are still alive. Bro. Shunk preached in the 
eabin> of the pioneers. The Baptist Church is always strong 
in any new county. He was the first school teacher. The 
schoolhouse was built by contribution and also served for a 



334 History of Mason County 

meeting house. An old gentleman by the name of Lease 
built a cabin, in which school was taught. I. A. Hurd 
'taught in an early day. The first justice of the peace was 
Albert Field ; the first constable was Aaron Ray. The inci- 
dents in the early courts were sometimes ludicrous. The 
first marriage was that of Jacob Clodfelter of Bath to Mary 
Garrett in 1839. They were married by Squire Field. The 
first death was old Becka, a negress. Old man Lease died 
early. The first birth was John Pratt. The first post- 
office was established in 1859 near John B. Gam's. It was 
called Prairie and the mail was brought by the coach that 
ran from Springfield to Havana. The first store was kept 
by William Gore, who kept about a wheelbarrow of goods. 
It was about three and one-half miles from the village of 
Kilbourne. 

Dr. Mastic was the first regular physician. The early 
settlers went to mill at Jacksonville, Salem and Robinson. 
Absalom Mounts built a small mill on Crane Creek in the 
southeast part of the township and when the water ran dry 
it was run by horse power. Mounts sold this mill to Sid- 
well, who made considerable improvement in it. The burrs 
were a foot in diameter and the lower one turned around in- 
stead of the upper. When the burrs wanted dressing, Sid- 
well would take them on his arm and dress than while walk- 
ing along. When the mill was running at full speed, he 
would fill up the hopper, go home and do work till noon 
and then in the afternoon go to the mill and see how it was 
.getting along. Sid well knew just how long it would take 
to grind out a turn. A few years later a mill was built 
at Petersburg and Sidwell's mill was closed down. In 1873 
Kilbourne township was formed out of Bath and Crane 
Creek townships. Bath was a large township and Crane 
Creek was nearly as large, so the territory made three good 
sized townships. Dr. Harvey O'Neal was the first super- 
visor. 



History of Mason County 335 

Kilbourne is divided on the political issues of the day. 
First one party and then the other claims the election. Dur- 
ing the late war it furnished its quota of troops in advance 
of the call. Some of the officers credited to Bath belonged 
to Kilbourne. Kilbourne township was named for Kilbourne 
Village, and both for Edward Kilbourne, one of the prin- 
cipal men engaged in building the road. The road was 
completed and trains put on it in 1872. The building of the 
road was opposed by the Bath interest, who saw in its com- 
pletion a loss of trade to themselves. When the first settlers 
came to this section, it abounded in deer, prairie chickens, 
wolves, wild turkeys and all kinds of wild game. Dr. Field 
says he has seen one hundred and fifty deer on the prairie 
at one time and it was almost as uncommon for the people 
to be without venison as bread. Prairie fires were of fre- 
quent occurrence, though no loss of life has been reported, 
but narrow escapes were of frequent occurrence. The fol- 
lowing incident is reported: A couple of men went out to 
hunt deer and wild honey. They had two wagons with 
two horses each. On the prairie near Sangamon bottom, 
the day being calm and but little'breeze stirring, they thought 
to set the grass on lire and perhaps -care up a deer. They 
had a quantity of venison and five hundreds pounds of 
honey in their wagons. They had scarcely set fire to the 
grass when a breeze sprang up and they were forced to 
cut their horses loose and flee for their lives. They suc- 
ceeded in escaping with their horses, but their wagons, veni- 
son and honey were burned. The sudden freeze in 1837 
is well remembered, but no one in this locality, as far as can 
be learned, froze to death. In other localities they were less 
fortunate and deaths were recorded. A great hail storm 
occurred in 1845. that exceeded anything that ever happened 
in this locality. When it was over hail lay several inches 
on the ground, many of them as large as a man's fist. This 



336 History of Mason County 

is the hail storm that Dick Blunt so graphically described 
(as big as saucers and four inches through). It made a 
terrible havoc among stock ; cattle and hogs were killed by 
the hundreds, even the trees bore marks of the storm for 
years afterward. The timid thought the last day had ar- 
rived and fell on their knees and went to praying. No 
human lives were destroyed, but much stock was killed. In 
early days there was no money in the county, and nothing 
to sell that would bring money; if they had any surplus 
product, there was sometimes a chance to sell some to 
movers. They went to Springfield to buy their clothing 
and groceries when they had anything to buy with. Kil- 
bourne has the reputation of being a quiet and orderly com- 
munity. A desperado by the name of Hughs was assassina- 
ted, but he threatened the lives of several citizens so the 
public rested easier on account of his death. No effort was 
made to find the perpetrators and no one felt disposed to 
bring them to trial. 

VILLAGE OF KILBOURNE. 

Kilbourne was laid out in 1870 by John B. Gam. The 
first store in the village was opened up by William Oakford. 
A saloon was kept by Old Billy Martin before Oakford 
kept store, but nothing but bad whiskey was sold. Calvin 
Arterberry bought out Oakford, and Dr. Field opened up a 
store. A postoffice was established in 1873, with Edward 
Biglow as postmaster. Rev. Low was the early Methodist 
preacher and Rev. Curry the Baptist preacher. Cuba was 
another village in the township of Kilbourne but there are 
but few who remember it. During the exciting war between 
Bath and Havana for the county seat, while Bath was the 
county seat, the Havana people succeeded in bringing the 
matter up for a vote, well knowing that they had the neces- 
sary votes for removal. The Bath people thought to throw 



History of Mason County 



jo 



37 



an impediment in the way. so they bought eighty acres of 
land of Dr. Mastic, in Kilbourne township, and made a 
paper town and called it Cuba, claiming that it was near the 
center of the county. They had the land platted in lots with 
a handsome public square, streets and alleys. They were not 
as successful in this as was Asa Langford, when he traded 
Watterford lots for the steamboat Navigator. 




22 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



CRANE CREEK TOWNSHIP 




HE most notable feature of this township is that 
there is not a village in the whole body. Kil- 
bourne is the nearest town on the south, while 
Easton is the nearst on the north, Havana on the 
west and Mason City on the east. Bull's Eye Prairie is in 
the center. Crane Creek on the eastern boundary runs south 
the whole length of the township. Bull's Eye, before arti- 
ficial drainage, was a wet prairie and the road across it was 
nearly impassable during the wet season. There was no 
settlement, only on the outskirts, that were bordered with 
a scrubby Black Jack timber, and the land was so sandy 
as to be unfit for cultivation. Crane Creek was settled in a 
very early day. Most of the early settlers were from Men- 
ard. The first settlement was made in Walker's Grove. In 
1829, the year that Ross made a permanent settlement in 
Havana, George Gannas and his brother made a squatter 
claim on the east side of Walker's Grove. They did not 
remain long and soon returned to the state from whence 
they came. Very few of the early settlers were fitted for 
pioneer life, leaving, as they did, older settled communities, 
surrounded by the comforts of civilization, and coming to a 
country where none of these were to be had. With theii 
wives and children deprived of these advantages, no wonder 
they weakened and found more congenial places to rear 
their families. The year of 1830 an influx of emigrants 



History of Mason County 339 

came into the township. These were James Price. Enoch 
Estep and Spence Clary. Price is remembered for his In- 
dian wife. She was a fine specimen of the Indian race. On 
leaving Walker's Grove in a few years he went farther west 
to the Indian Reservation. Here he lost his life while boat- 
ing. Clary remained a citizen as long as he lived and was 
buried on the farm of Henry Sears. He was in the war in 
1 8 1 _'. and is spoken of as a hard working man. Estep 
was from North Carolina and built his cabin near Revis 
Springs. J. A. Revis, from Warren county. Kentucky, 
came in [831. Revis Springs and Revis Lake derive their 
name- from him. His father. Charles Revis, had come in 
an early day and had built a hotel at Vandalia. James 
Revis died .in [838 and was buried on the bluffs of the San- 
gamon. Time has obliterated the place, and the spot is not 
now known. Their sons now till their vacant places. In 
[830 a number of additions were made to the settlements. 
John Yardley and his two sons, James and John, came direct 
from Kentucky, stopping a short time in Menard count} - . 
Soon after they located on Crane Creek. Old man Yard- 
lew his -"ii John and his son-in-law, Sol Nbrris, moved to 
Texas. James Yardley -till resides 1 mi the farm and has been 
a good citizen. Josiah Cook next put in an appearance from 
Green county, Kentucky. By hi- death many promises to 
pay were canceled. Jam- Sutton came to Walker's Grove 
the year following, lie -"Id to James Estep and moved to 
Havana town-hip. In the year of [820 he came to Menard 
county, lie laid his claim within the limit of Petersburg. 
James gave up his claim to his father and moved across the 
Sangamon to Baker's Prairie, but finally came back and 
improved the north part of hi- first claim and when it came 
into the market entered it. lb' moved to different localities, 
but returned t>> Mason county where he died. Harvey llas- 
kins was in the Grove in [833. It was no trouble for him 
t<> move as by walking and carrying his baby, and attended 



340 History of Mason County 

by his wife, who carried their effects in a sack, the feat of 
moving was easily accomplished. In 1822 Henry Sears came 
to Illinois. He lived in various localities, most of the time 
in Menard and Sangamon. In 1834 he came to Walker's 
Grove and purchased the improvements of James Estep. 
He sold them to James Walker in 1837, and the following 
spring moved to Crane Creek where he was a citizen of 
Sangamon, Menard and Mason without ever changing his 
residence. Uncle Henry Sears, as an eccentric man, was 
always noted for his peculiarities ; a man of undoubted in- 
tegrity and honesty. His word was as good as his bond. 
He was a member of the first pettit jury ever held in Mason 
county- Abner Baxter, from Kentucky, settled in the Grove 
soon after Sears. Abner had a reputation as a fiddler and 
his services were always in request at the hoe-downs. He 
was a member of the board of county commissioners in 
1844. The year 1836 added Jesse Baker, a brother-in-law 
of Sears, to the settlements. He was a great hunter and 
perhaps killed more deer than any other man in Mason 
county. Alfred Summers came from Kentucky and settled 
on the farm now owned by Henry Sears. He died in 
1837 and his death was one of the first to occur among the 
early settlers. Passing back to 1835, we find Josiah Dobson, 
John Close and his sons, George and Jack Close, and also 
Turner Close. Jack Close finally moved to Havana. 

James Walker came from Dearborn county, Indiana, and 
bought a large tract of land in what is now called Walker's 
Grove. He lived and raised a large family, who have been 
largely identified with the interest and growth of the county. 
He built the first frame house in the county. 

Robert Cavin, from South Carolina, is thought to have 
settled in the township in 1837. Charles and John Haynes 
became citizens in 1838. At the close of 1839, I saac Teters, 
Hiram and George Walker, Huff Hines, Henry Norris and 
Lemuel Pelham became citizens here. Teters came from St. 



History of Mason County 341 

Clair county and moved to Texas. Hiram Walker also 
moved to Texas. Henry Norris was from Kentucky and 
was the brother of Solomon Xorris. one of the first settlers. 
Huff Hines was a fellow but a few remember. Lemuel 
Pelham was a Buckeye and to use Henry Sears expression 
"shackeled around" and from the length of time he spent 
in each locality, he must have been one hundred and fifty 
years old. Asher Scott and his brother. Martin, came with 
him. but settled in what is now Sherman township. Around 
the year 1840 Charles Veach, Elijah Rig-gin and Ensley 
Hall were added to the population. Yeach was from Dela- 
van and lost his life by the caving in of a well. Ensley 
Hall came from Tennessee to Menard, then to Mason and 
again 1' icated in Menard. 

Rev. John L. Turner, a Baptist preacher, made a settle- 
ment near James Hawk- in 1X40. He was a quiet man. a 
zealous minister, worked six days in a week and then 
preached more scriptural sermons than the preachers of the 
present day do after spending the whole week on one or two 
sermons. Me also held offices in the gift of the people. He 
preached from the time he came to the state till his death. 

Samuel Conwell came from Indiana. Con well was an 
oddity. The early settlers thought Conwell proud because 
he did not dress in western style. Coon skin caps and buck- 
skin pant- were the fashion then and Con soon found him- 
self unpopular and he went by the name of "that D — d 
Yankee." Con first introduced Berkshire hogs and he was 
sued several times, the charge was "swindling the people." 
Conwell always came out victorious and Jesse Baker was led 
to say, "we can't correct this Jerusalem Overtaker of any- 
thing." Conwell was the first man to introduce improved 
implements and fine hogs in the country, so he deserves men- 
tion for that. 

The year 1841-32 brought in Henry Seymour, James H. 
and Joseph Xorris, George Hall. Christian Trueman and 



34 2 History of Mason County 

Harvey Stone. The Norrises were from Kentucky; Joseph 
moved to Texas. George Hall bought the Walker farm. 
The Stones were from Ohio. Harvey, after a few years, 
went back to Ohio and Christian moved to Iowa. Henry 
Seymour was from Germany. Samuel Nutz, with his sons, 
settled in 1844. Harvey Hathorn came in 1846. He was 
from Kentucky and of Scotch descent. The same year a 
number of the Tomlins moved in the northeast part of the 
township. In 1850 Allen Robinson and James Hawks 
moved in. Hawks settled in Walker's Grove. Elisha 
Davenport came to what is now Mason county, but he did 
not become a citizen of Crane Creek till 1849. Many 
others came about this time, but whose names are omitted 
because of want of space. 

Walker's Grove. 

This grove, which is so often mentioned in connection 
with Crane Creek township, and was the nucleus around 
which settlements were made, was known as Price's Grove 
prior to its purchase by James Walker in 1837. Since that 
date it has been called Walker's Grove. The Grove em- 
braces about four hundred acres of as fine a body of timber 
as can be found anywhere ; a fine growth of oaks, black 
walnut, soft and sugar maple, hickory, butternut, mulberry, 
sassafras, red bud, pawpaw, dogwood and many other 
varieties. Many of the pioneers who built their cabins near 
this spot have long since died. 

The early settlers were content with their mail once a 
week, while their successors now get their daily papers and 
are acquainted with what transpired yesterday all over the 
world. Among the prominent subjects and discussions that 
enlivened their social gatherings was the relative merits of 
the gourd seed or flint corn or the favorite qualities of the 
best coon dog. 



History of Mason County 343 



Religious Services. 

In the early days the Groves were God's first temples 
where the breeze came ladened with the perfume of a thou- 
sand (lowers. Rev. Thomas Plasters was the first preacher. 
He came as early as 1834. He was a hardshell Baptist and 
had the holy tone so common with that denomination and 
as he warmed up with his discourse his gesticulation be- 
came more violent. Still it was enjoyed by the pioneers 
who had been deprived of the religious privileges. His 
preaching was at the residences. Rev. John L. Turner, who 
came in [840, was an early minister. Rev. Abraham Rale 
should be classed among the early settlers. Solomon Bale 
came early. The Rev. Jacob Bale, father of Hardin Bale, 
was also a preacher of the Baptist persuasion, though not 
very deep in theology. Rev. Russ, a Methodist preacher, 
often preached at the residences. Rev. William Coder, 
Wallace and Moreland were among the earliest. A church 
was built near the cemetery in Walker's Grove, but burned 
down about the time it was completed. A postoffice was 
established at the house of James Walker in [839. It was on 
the mail route from Springfield to Havana. James Walker 
was the postmaster. In about eighteen months it was re- 
moved t< > Menard c< unity. 

Jack Close, who occupied a prominent place among the 
early merchant- of Havana, had a small country store as 
early as 1 S4 i . The first schoolhouse was built on land be- 
longing to Henry Sears in [836. It was patronized by a 
large extent of country. William Lease was the first school- 
master. James Buckner was the first M. 1). to locate. He 
Stopped at the home of John Yanlley and afterwards moved 
to Petersburg. Dr. Morgan was in the township early, but 
did not remain long. The milling in early days was done 
on the Mackinaw and on the Sangamon. Later it was done 



344 History of Mason County 

at Simon's and McHarry's on Quiver. Two children of 
the family of Alexander Revis are supposed to have been 
the first dearths. The first marriage in the township was John 
Mounts and Jane Summers. No doubt John could sing with 
the poet : 

" My summers would last all the year." 

Among the early justices of the peace were Ira Patterson, 
Henry Norris and Robert Turner. Patterson and Norris 
were justices while it was Menard county. Turner was the 
first in Mason county. The first deed made to a tract of land 
was made out to Henry Sears by Abraham Lincoln. Crane 
Creek has always been deomocratic. It used to be said 
that they always held the returns of an election back till 
they found how many votes were needed and then at the last 
hour would send in the number of democratic votes needed. 
Money was very scarce and coon skins were a legal tender 
in most all trades. James Estep purchased a pair of boots 
of O. M. Ross of Havana and paid the entire amount in coon 
skins. The ingenuity of the early settler was often taxed as 
to means to get his whiskey. William Summers once made 
a bet that he could gallop a quarter of a mile on his hands 
and knees (horse fashion) in a given time. He won the bet 
and got his quarter of old rye whiskey. 




CHAPTER XXXVIL 



SALT CREEK 



>. 



HE original survey of this township was made in 
[823, and was known as Town 2, Range 6, 
West of the third Principal Meridian. It con- 
tained thirty-six sections, except a tier of six sec- 
ii.ui> on the north side which were fractional. Section thirty- 
six in the southeast corner was divided by Salt Creek cutting 
off about one-third of the section. The northern part of the 
township is high rolling prairie, once full of ponds and 
basins, but now drained and in a high state of cultivation. 
The west and south parts are more broken and the south 
part, including the Salt ("reck bluffs is very much so. Big 
Grove extends along these bluffs. Here was where the 
pioneer settlers first made their primitive homes. Le; 
Grove in the northwest part of the township contains about 
two hundred aero, which is still being cleared of the timber 
for cultivation, and Big Grove is also being contracted. 

The soil 1- very productive of all cereals and fruits suit- 
able to the climate, but the crop that is king 1- corn. In its 
earliest days wheat yielded a bountiful crop and was the first 
crop raised on the land. Corn required but little cultivation 
after being planted and the pioneer spent most of his time in 
breaking prairie, dropping corn in the third furrow. Corn 
planted in this way produced a large amount of fodder. The 
early planted produced good corn, hut the late planting was 
generally caught by the frost and was not good feed and was 
used for distilling purposes, hence the term of ''Sod Corn 



346 History of Mason County 

Whisky," which was applied to the inferior grades as an 
expression of contempt. 

The first entry of land was made in the township in 1829 
by Leonard Alkers and was a tract of one hundred and 
twenty acres in section thirty-four, contained in what is now 
Knox farm, but was not improved until more than twenty 
years later. In August, 1829, William Hagans entered one 
hundred and twenty acres, which was afterwards sold to 
Charles Montgomery. Here near the brick residence built 
by Charles Montgomery. Hagans built a log cabin, and with 
his family became a settler in what is now Eastern Mason 
county. 

In 1834 James Hagans entered a forty-acre tract and 
built a cabin where George Short's residence was built. In 
1837 John Hagans entered a forty-acre tract where James 
Montgomery afterwards built a residence. A few years 
later they all sold out to Ephraim Wilcox and moved West. 
In 1830 a family by the name of Slinker squatted on a piece 
of land in the grove northwest, but nothing is known as to 
where they went. In 1833 a man by the name of Lease 
settled in the northwest part of the township in a grove which 
took his name, and it still retains the name. Samuel. Blunt, 
George Wilson and the Moslanders settled at Lease's Grove. 
Wilson's son Orey committed suicide by hanging himself to 
a limb of a tree, which was the first case of self-destruction 
in the township. 

In 1835 Isaac Engle entered a forty-acre tract after- 
wards owned by William Anxier. Engle built a cabin. 
This place was purchased by Edward Sikes in 1837. Sikes 
had come from Ohio with several families and settled in the 
grove. A few years later Sikes built a substantial frame 
house and planted an orchard of the first grafted fruit in the 
country. 

In the old log house on this place the first school was 
taught by one of the daughters of Sikes, now Mrs. S. D. 



History of Mason County 347 

Swing of Mason City, who with her husband settled at 
Swing's Grove. 

In 1835 Michael Engle entered eighty acres, afterwards 
known as the Hume Place, but nothing now remains except 
where the well stood. A child of John Carter was drowned 
in the well in the summer of 1849. 

In 1837 Kinsey Virgin moved out from Ohio and bought 
the place and built a hewn log house and soon settled down 
in his new romantic home. He was a stock raiser and was 
soon in good circumstance-, but only one of his family lived 
to reach the age of majority. Kinsey died in 185-' and his 
wife two year- later. The same year. 1S37. George Virgin 
settled a quarter of a mile west. < reorge was of a domestic 
nature and employed his time in making home pleasant, not 
caring for -took nor acquiring all the land around him. He 
was a large corpulent man and enjoyed life as he went along, 
letting the future care for it-elf. though not by any means 
shiftless or improvident. 1 L is wife, whom everybody called 
Aunt Alley, was a woman of wonderful energy. No sacri- 
fice of personal comfort was too great for her. and she was 
always doing good to accommodate the people of the com- 
munity, who had to go to 1 lavana for their groceries. Mr. 
Virgin, in a house eight by ten feet, kept a Small stock of 
e and a few of the necessaries of life for -ale. 
We recollect seeing him come to Havana and buy his stock 
of goods of Walker and Hancock and convey them twenty- 
four mile- by wagon to hi- home. When the demand in- 
creased, he moved lift}' yard- east of his house and added 
a general assortment of goods. When this became too -mail, 
he built a -tore house in the little town of 1 liawatha. 

Mr. Virgin's unfortunate death occurred in 1855. 1 iie 
family had been using poison and kept it on the mantle with 
other bottle-. In the night. Mr. Virgin had the colic to 
which he was subject, and got up and went to the mantle 
to take some camphor, which he always kept in a certain 



348 History of Mason County 

place. He did not take a light, and took a swallow of the 
poison. Although the mistake was discovered at once and 
medical aid summoned, he died from the effects. The 
widow died of cholera at the old homestead in 1873. They 
had no children. 

About this time Rezin Virgin, a brother, entered and 
improved a farm. In the course of a few years Rezin entered 
a large amount of land on the north side of the grove, and 
married the widow of Ephraim Brooner, one of the early 
settlers of the township. He improved his land and settled 
down in a log house on the south side of a large pond. 
From here he moved to a house on his land, a mile farther, 
where he died in 1872, and his widow died a few years 
later. Rezin was a man of great energy, though weak phys- 
ically all his life. 

He was one of the most peculiar and eccentric men in the 
whole country. Abraham Virgin, one of the. four brothers, 
settled in 1837 in the eastern part of the grove in a log cabin, 
the style of the buildings in those days. He engaged in stock 
raising and farming, and went through the privations of the 
early times. In 1853 ne was afflicted with a malady that 
made it necessary to send him to the insane asylum at Jack- 
sonville. He was soon restored to his right mind, and lived 
and directed his affairs until he died with the cholera which 
swept through this section in 1873. His wife was also 
taken with the dread disease, but lived until 1877. Aunt 
Betsey was a great friend to the poor, the sick and afflicted. 

A year or two later, Abner Baxter, John Young, Ira 
Halstead and Ira Patterson settled in the southwest part of 
the township. Young died in 1848, and his widow in 1862. 

Ira Halstead was a blacksmith and a Methodist preacher, 
who removed to Wisconsin. Ira Patterson was a justice of 
the peace and moved to Oregon, and was appointed territor- 
ial governor. He lived in a hewn log house at the foot of 
the bluff below the mouth of Salt Creek. On the place ad- 



History of Mason County 349 

joining on the east lived Uncle Jackey and Aunt Hannah 
Armstrong, who furnished a home for the immortal Lincoln 
when he was a young man, and it was by the light of their 
fire that Lincoln stored his mind with a fund of information, 
in the reading of such books as he could obtain. The grati- 
tude of Mr. Lincoln to this family continued as long as he 
lived, and was manifested in various ways, even after he be- 
came president. 

In 1857 Duff Armstrong was indicted by the grand jury 
for murder at a campmeeting held at Big Grove, and at the 
trial. Lincoln without a fee, cleared Duff by the almanac, in 
gratitude for what the Armstrong family had done for him 
in earlier days. The almanac story has been published from 
one end of this country to the other. The true story will be 
found in another part of this book. 

in 1841 John Swans settled on a forty-acre tract in Salt 
Creek Bottom, from which Swan's Ford on the Creek south 
of that place took its name. 

|olm Auxier and his brother Eli came out and settled on 
the north side of the grove. Eli died in 1848. John Auxier 
was a large feeder of cattle and hogs, and he bought a large 
tract of land on the east cud of the grove, and built a house 
where the M. E. church was built, lie died in i^^y. 

John Y. Lane was one of the first settlers on the prairie 
west of Mason City, and built a house composed of canvas 
grass and poles. He lived there a year or so. He was then 
an old man. lie was a Tennessean, and had fought under 
General Jackson in the war of [812. When the Petersburg 
and Tonica railroad was built. Mr. Lane built a large frame 
house designed for a hotel. 

John L. Chase lived in the southwest part of the township 
and was appointed postmaster. The office was then re- 
moved from Walker's Grove and the mail was carried once 
a week from Petersburg on horseback. Sometimes several 



35° History of Mason County 

weeks would elapse before any mail was received, on ac- 
count of the high waters of Salt Creek. Mr. Chase died in 
1856, when William Wamock, who with William Young 
kept a country store, was appointed postmaster. He moved 
to Hiawatha and then moved to Mason City. 

A small cluster of buildings sprung up around Hia- 
watha, among which was a flour mill and a saw mill and 
blacksmith shop. Dr. Hall was a prominent physician. 
They expected the Petersburg and Tonica railroad to strike 
the town, but alas, their hopes were blasted. Mason City 
sang the requiem of Hiawatha. 

The Virgin school house was the voting place for the 
precinct, and many were the drnken brawls at that place. 
At this school house religious, meetings were also held in 
which great excitement was manifested and whiskey was 
dispensed. Peter Cartright used to attend these meetings, 
and here it was that Duff Armstrong was charged with the 
murder of Medsear. Here it was that Dr. J. P. Walker, 
Dr. A. R. Cooper and Dr. Deskins settled. 

A violent hail storm devastated this country in 1850, and 
chickens, pigs and sheep were swept from the face of the 
earth, as with the besom of destruction. Dr. Knox was a 
prominent resident of the township; also H. C. Burnham, 
George Baxter, Charles Montgomery and many others. 
Salt Creek township will occupy a prominent place in the 
annals of Mason county, in its past, present and future 
history. 




CHAPTER XXXVIII. 

HENRY ONSTOT 

UR present subject was a Kentuckian by birtli, 
having been born in Gerrard county in 1805. 
He moved to Sugar < rrove in 1825 and can well 
be called a "Sucker" by adoption. A large 
number of settlers came to Sugar < rrove and Salt Creek about 
that time, lien Davis lived on the creek and the place was 
called I)avi>' Ferry. David Onstot settled on the Smoot 
farm, where he built a mill and ground corn for the settlers. 
Ik lived there until after the dee]> snow and then moved 
to Taney county. Mo., because he said this country was 
getting to thickly settled for him. although there were not 
live houses within as many miles. 

William Sampson was another brother-in-law, who lived 
and died in the same community, and who had a family of 
eight boys and two girls, who are now all dead but two 
b< iys. 

When Henry Onstot first settled in Sugar Grove, near 
where Greenview now stands, there was a hand of Indians 
camped on Salt Creek about four miles north, who often 
came to the ( rrove, f< >r milk 1 >r s< imething to eat. Sometimes 
when the men were off at work the Indians would become 
saucy and the women finally became so frightened that they 
would not stay at home alone. One day the men. to the 
number of about twenty, with their maple stock rides, went 
down to the Creek and gave the Indians their orders and 
they behaved themselves after that. 



352 History of Mason County 

Henry Onstot moved to Old Salem in 1831 and was iden- 
tified with that historic village until that town was moved 
to Petersburg- in 1840. The deep snow is what all the old 
settlers date back to. It commenced snowing in December 
and snowed until February, the snow averaging six feet deep. 
A man could catch a deer any place as they would mire 
down and get so poor that many of them perished from hun- 
ger. Onstot kept a hotel and afterward run a cooper shop. 
In the winter time he would go to Beardstown. which was 
then a great pork market, and oversee the shop there. It 
was thirty-five miles distant but was only a good days walk 
for Mr. Onstot. In 1840 he moved his house down to 
Petersburg. It was only a log house but it was weather 
boarded and looked like a frame house. I saw it a few 
weeks ago and it looked as if it might be good for fifty years 
more. 

Onstot was a whig in politics and a Cumberland Presby- 
terian in religion. In looking over some of his old papers a 
few months ago I found a church letter which was given him 
by Elihu Bone, of Rock Creek church, in October, 1842, 
when a church was being organized in Petersburg. Think- 
ing it might be prized as a relic I took it to the old Salem 
Chautauqua and showed it to Rev. Archer, pastor of the 
Presbyterian church. "I want that." said Archer, "I will 
have it framed and hung in my church." He did have it 
framed and hung it in the Cumberland tent at the Chautau- 
qua grounds, where hundreds of people read it. It was only 
a little scrap of paper but it was the foundation of the Peters- 
burg Presbyterian church. 

Mr. Onstot moved to Mason county in 1846 and lived in 
and around Havana for twenty-two years and was widely 
known. His shop was always full of children and many of 
the middle-aged people of Havana remember the cooper shop 
and the kind old man who always had a pleasant word for 
them. In 1868 Mother Onstot died and then he came and 
made his home with me in Forest City. I had a good home 



History of Mason County 353 

and with a noble wife and loving' children we made the last 
ten years of his life as comfortable as possible, and when the 
end came we tenderly took his remains to Havana and laid 
them beside those of his wife and two children, one son and 
one daughter. 

lie had not an enemy in the world but made friends 
wherever he went. The old settlers often speak of Henry 
( )nstot. In all questions that came before him he would ask, 
is it right? And when that point was settled no power could 
move him from it. I recollect once an old Baptist deacon 
wanted him to make some whiskey barrels but he would not 
do it. lie thought the whole liquor traffic a sin against ( rod 
and humanity and never by thought, word or deed sanc- 
tioned it. lie and Dr. Allen organized the first Sunday 
School in Old Salem and in [840 they organized one 111 
Petersburg. In 1S47 he and Mrs. Hancock organized the 
first one in 1 lavana. 



THE OLD HOME 

We have sold the old home, where for thirty years we 
have lived, and in a few days shall leave it forever. We are 
not going but a few blocks away, but a feeling of sadness 
comes over us while the precious memories of the score and 
ten year-- we have lived in it 1- reproduced to our vivid im- 
agination. When we moved in it the great rebellion had 
been subdued. We were just in the prime of our manhood, 
full of hope for the future, with a noble companion and 
children to share our joys. Our home at first was small, but 
addition^ from time to time made it commodious and pleas- 
ant. 

Our father came to spend his declining days with us, and 
for a number of years was a central figure, and we all vied 
with each other to make his last days pleasant, but the end 



354 History of Mason County 

came, and our father whose home was in the west room was 
not, "for God took him" in 1876. Kind friends bore him 
gently away to the Havana cemetery, where by the side of 
mother and Isaac, Mary Ann and William, he gently sleeps. 

There was one vacant chair, one missing link. Another 
year sped on and Ellen, the eldest, began to fade as the 
flower, and one morning a convoy of angels escorted her 
freed spirit to where "the flowers bloom forever and the 
fields are eternally fair.*' It was hard to say, "thy will be 
clone." Next the faithful mother and wife came down to the 
river's brink, and with a heroic christian faith passed over 
to the "shining shore." 

"The old home ain't like it used to be," and side by side 
in the beautiful cemetery of Pleasant Plains, they await the 
resurrection morn. 

"I sometimes dream their pleasant smiles still on me 
sweetlv falls, their tones of love I faintly hear, my name in 
sadness call." No wonder the memories of the sad as well 
as pleasant hours I spent in the old home will, till life's latest 
breath be indelibly written on the tablet of my heart. These 
large maples were planted by my hand, the large oaks were 
small trees. Since I made the old home, a new generation 
has come upon the stage of action. Many who lived here 
and who have enjoyed the hospitalities of the old home have 
been called from labor to reward. We have strong attach- 
ments for our old homes, every time we visit Petersburg, we 
step in our early home and though strangers live there they 
bid us welcome. We have not made many moves in our pil- 
grimage. This will be the second. Our chickens have not 
been trained to lie on their backs and hold up their legs to be 
tied every time a covered wagon comes along. Three moves 
are as bad as a burnout, it is said. We shall try and not move 
the third time. It will take some time to get used to the new 
home. It is not so large and has not some of the conveni- 
ences of the old home, but we will try to adapt ourselves to 
the new home, and remember that while we have pleasant 



History of Mason County 355 

homes that this is not our abiding place, that we seek a better 
home, a "land that is fairer than day," a home in heaven, 
after we have crossed life's tempestuous sea, where the grand 
re-union with those gone before shall take place, in a home 
eternal in the heavens. 



SAND BURRS 

There never was such a plague or misfortune ever 
happened to the settlers of Mason county as the sand burr, 
or caused so much annoyance to the farmers, and a little 
history of how they came here might be interesting to some 
of the people of this county. It was in the fall of 1830 while 
O. M. Ross was living in his log cabin on the bank of the 
Illinois river just above the ferry landing that a traveler with 
two horses and a wagon drove up to his cabin one evening 
and asked if he could get to camp near by for the night. 
that lie was moving from the state of Ohio and wanted to 

- the river in the mi 'ruin-. 

Ross showed him a camping place a few rods north of 
the house, lie drove there and unhitched his horses and 
tied them to the back of the wagon and took three sheaves 
of oats and \c<\ them to his horses. The next morning he 
crossed the river. The next spring there came up a patch of 
grass aboul ten feet square that resembled young timothy 
grass and when it grew twelve or fifteen inches high and got 
ripe there appeared upon every spear of the grass a bunch 
of burrs. They grew to about the size of a pea and were 
a^ sharp as needles. Nothing was thought of the bunch of 
grass at the time or it could all have been dug out and 
destroyed in a short time, but the horses and cattle would 
come and graze and lie there and the burrs would get in 
their tails and in the wool of the sheep and was carried that 
way ami was finally scattered over the county. It was no 



356 



History of Mason County 



use, how poor and sandy the land was wkere the seed was 
dropped, they would always grow and when they got in the 
grain fields with the wheat and oats they were a terrible 
annoyance to the farmers for the grain could not be bound 
without the workmen wearing a thick pair of gloves. 

When O. M. Ross first settled in Havana there was also 
found growing on the side of the bluff about half way from 
the hotel and the river a patch of prickly pears covering 
about half an acre. They grew from one to two feet high 
and were a great curiosity to many people and when a 
steamer landed the passengers would go out to see them, but 
like the sand burr they soon got scattered over the county. 




CHAPTER XXXIX. 



PEN PICTURE OF COL, JOHN E. NEIKIRK 




glVERY man is marked by something that distin- 
guishes him from everybody else, even the 

- '-■'Ml 



human voice. You may not have seen a per- 
son for a quarter of a century, his features may 
have changed, you may not recognize the person, yet his 
voice does not change. I le may come in the darkness of the 
night, but you know him by his voice. 

A man raised on the broad plains of Illinois has good 
lungs, his vision is broad, his ideas are large. 

A friend whose name heads our article has been a cen- 
tral figure in this community since [854. lie was born 
nearly three score years ago, across the Alleghanies in Mary- 
land, in the dark ages, before any of the modern improve- 
ments of the present age. I le wore home spun clothes, and 
hog and hominy were the chief diet, lie acquired a com- 
mon school education that laid the foundation for his future 
greatness. 

But as Maryland was a good state to be born in pro- 
vided a man emigrated soon afterwards, his father loaded 
up his family and his goods and took Greely's advice and 
went west. 

The center of the west to them was Seneca County. Ohio. 
Here he grew to manhood, nothing very startling occurring. 
It was never John's privilege to go through college. In 
[854 his father and family started west again, a train of 
eight wagons made the procession and John stopped near 



358 History of Mason County 

Forest City, or where Forest City was located a few years 
later, and began to grow up with the country. 

The country was new and deer roamed the prairie like 
sheep, and the howl of the wolf made the nights hideous. 

In 1 86 1, when treason's dark cloud began to arrive, 
John's patriotic soul began to hum within him and when 
a call was made for the country's defenders John responded. 

We are coming Father Abraham, 
Three hundred thousand strong. 

In 1 86 1 he enlisted in Capt. Fullerton's Company, and 
for three years was a soldier good and true. He was in 
several engagements and came home without a wound and 
in good health, with an honorable discharge, and a good 
record as a soldier. 

The war being over, John returned to the peaceful pur- 
suits of farm life, built a house and was soon in possession 
of a wife. Miss Phoebe Reed was the fortunate one, and to 
her John gives credit for his success in life. Improvements 
have been made till he now has a comfortable and happy 
home. Three sons and two daughters, with Aunt Phoebe, 
as sbe is familiarly called, make up the family. Their 
children are intelligent and excel in their studies. Orin and 
Oscar, the eldest, are fine specimens, both physically and 
morally, of Christian young men. who have a brisrht future 
before them. They have finished their education at Cham- 
paign University. We do not know how much credit John 
is entitled to for the success of his boys, but are certain he 
offers /fo objection to their ambition. 

Air. Xeikirk has held several offices and while not an 
office seeker, has been constable, tax collector, road com- 
missioner and school director. The latter office he held for 
several years, and due credit is due him. He is a rabid 
Republican in politics, in religion, he leans on the Metho lists 
as all his family belongs to that church, and John will no 
doubt try and fall through the pearly gates into the New 



History of Mason County 359 

Jerusalem on a family ticket. On temperance. John might 
be classed as a mug wamp. While temperate himself, he 
would be inclined to take Paul's advice to Timothy: "A 
little wine when your stomach is out of order." Pie has 
considerable talent as a public speaker and has, at times, 
when occasion required, soared to the loftiest heights. One 
of these occasions comes to our mind. At the Neikirk re- 
union in Ohio a few years ago. a cousin of John's, who 
had a rather weak voice, had made a speech, which could 
not be heard by all the crowd. John followed, and apol- 
ogized for hi- cousin in the following language: "My 
cousin ha- spent his life here among the hills, where they 
have their three to five acres to farm and a big hill, 
so his vision has been contracted, he doesn't have to speak 
loud to make anyone hear him. and when the milk maid 
goes out to pail the Jersey, she simply has to call in a low 
voice, and the Jersey, not more than fifty yards away, in the 
back of the pasture come- and is milked." 

After a pause, John raised his voice to a high pitch and 
continued: "It is not so in the broad prairies of Illinois, 
where your humble speaker hails from, where we have a 
thousand acre- in a pasture, and so level that a rabbit could 
not hide in it. Behold the milk maid a- she cometh forth 
to divest the Jersey. After the day's work is done, her eyes 
an the horizon, and away in the far distance, perchance 
in the back of the 1.000 acre pasture, she spies some yellow 
object-, not larger than a shepherd dog. and she ha- to 
use all her lung power; co — ba — sa — co — ba — sa — . The 
gentle bovine raises her head from the sweet clover and 
after locating the direction of the sound; comes home and 
till- the milk maid's bucket. My cousin is not to blame 
for having a weak voice, growing up with these surround- 
ings." 

lli- manner of speaking i- free and easy if he has no 
opposition, lie is not a debator. lli- encounter with Jim 
Rowley last campaign showed that. We don't think John 



360 History of Mason County 

was satisfied with the results of that debate himself. One 
of his strong points is his singing of a poetic nature. When 
he gets in company with Henry Knupple, their voices blend 
in harmony in "Marching Through Georgia," or similar 
strains. He can make "America" roll, and at a Fourth of 
July celebration here four years ago, he tried his voice on 
"Hail Columbia." He got dashed by the large crowd be- 
fore him, and after singing the first verse, forgot the bal- 
ance of the song. 

His personal appearance is striking ; tall and well formed. 
He stands like Saul among the prophets. By some he is 
supposed to resemble Lincoln. We think not, but would 
say Cullom. 

He has many friends. The world is better for such 
men as Col. John E. Neikirk, 



REVERDY J. ONSTOT 

Reverdy J. Onstot, who delights to call himself a "snow 
bird" was born December 6, 1830 (the winter of the deep 
snow), in New Salem. Illinois, made historical by being 
the home of Abraham Lincoln from 1831 to 1837, who he 
remembers very well and was a frequent visitor at the 
grocery store kept by Lincoln & Berry. 

Mr. Onstot is the possessor of two iron well-bucket hoops 
that was part of four, and the bale his father took for 
seventy-five cents on Lincoln's board while he kept the 
tavern in New Salem in 1833. Mr. Onstot also has the 
plat of the town of Huron, which was surveyed and platted 
by Lincoln at Miller's ferry, on the Sangamon river, for 
Geo. Miller. Col. E. D. Baker, Simeon Francis, John 
Houge, N. W. Edwards, David Prickett, Samuel Morris, 
William Carpenter, Geshom Jayne and Chas. B. Francis, 
of Springfield, who were partners of Geo. B. Miller. Noth- 
ing ever came to the town as the canal up the Sangamon 



History of Mason County 361 

river from Beardstown to Springfield was never built as 
projected in 1833. His father moved to Petersburg from 
Salem in '39, where R. J. often heard Lincoln, Douglas. 
Baker, John J. Hardin, Murrey McConnell, David Logan, 
Judge Robbins, T. L. Harris and many other noted men 
speak. Mr. Onstot did not go as a soldier as he was 
badly ruptured while assisting in raising a Lincoln pole m 
Havana in i860, where he then lived. He assisted in rais- 
ing two companies and was the first route mail agent on the 
P. P. & J. R. R., with headquarters at Pekin where he 
helped originate and organize the Union League: a service 
to his country second to none. It was the Union League 
that cemented Republicans and War Democrats into the 
Union part) for the preservation of the Union, it was 
through him and Postmaster Hart Montgomery that 
Leagues were at once organized in Havana. Virginia, Jack- 
sonville. Springfield. Bloomington and El Paso; he also as- 
sisted in organizing at Peoria; it then spread all over the 
loyal Northern states and gave to the Union cause those 
great victories at the polls in "03. -Mr. Onstot was pros- 
trated by overwork and laid in bed for two years. Upon 
hi- recovery he came to Mason City in 1874 where he has 
since lived, being engaged in the hook and news trade. 1 le 
has never held an office since '03 and the one he then 
held he resigned and gave up his position to a broken- 
down soldier. lie has never keen an office seeker, though 
he has been one of the hardest workers in the party and for 
a long time one of the County Central Committee for 
.Mason City. If there is a man that deserves recognition for 
party service it is he. for he is both honest and capable. 



A HUSTLER 

In looking over our held for a live, energetic, get up 
and dnst man to set for his picture, we only had to move 



362 History of Mason County 

south across the iron bridge less than a mile, where we 
found the subject of our sketch in a nice farm house, half 
hidden among the shade trees. 

J. Alonzo Barnes was born at Canton, October 8, 1852. 
His father was a cooper by trade. When Lon was four 
years old his father moved to Farmington, in the same 
county, and lived there several years. 

In 1859 the family moved to Kansas. The following 
year was the great drouth and the people left in great num- 
bers. Many came back east to visit their "wife's relations." 
Lon's father settled for a while in Peoria. He well recol- 
lects seeing the first soldiers leave for the seat of war on 
a steamboat, and his patriotic heart was stirred by the fife 
and drum. 

Not liking the city life we next find him on the raw 
prairie in Hancock county, where he learned to farm. Here 
he learned to love farming, a business he now follows. 

And now comes a dark shadow, which was probably the 
turning point of his life. His mother died, his father broke 
up housekeeping and Lon went to live with his uncle, Alonzo 
Barnes in Prairie City. 

Our hustler never went to school after he was fourteen 
years of age. His uncle tried to have him go but as he was 
working for $20 per month he did not think he could afford 
to go as he worked on his uncle's farm, which joined Prairie 
City. 

In 1 87 1 after the great Chicago fire, at the age of nine- 
teen, he got a job on the night police force in Chicago for 
six months. 

He can relate many thrilling scenes and episodes that 
occurred during his sojourn in Chicago. His uncle, think- 
ing it was a poor place for a young man to live, sent for 
him to come to Prairie City, and learn the tinner's trade 
and do the work for his hardware store. Young Barnes 
gladly accepted the offer. His uncle took great interest in 



History of Mason County 36 



6 



his welfare, and was all to him that a father could have 
been. 

Lon had now arrived at the age of twenty- four and began 
to think himself a man. and that he ought to do as his father 
and grandfather had done — get himself a wife. 

Being on a visit to some relatives in Mason county he 
wooed and wed Miss Sarah E. Bowser in November, 1876. 
Inn still worked in Prairie City for one year at his trade. 

lie then moved to Mason county, where he now lives. 
on a farm of one hundred acres of tine land to which he 
has added two hundred and twenty acres, having bought 
the Walker farm which join- Forest City. Mis farm now 
consists of three hundred and twenty acres and could not 
he bought for less than $100 per acre. It is well divided 
into small fields and is in a high state of cultivation. It is 
well stocked: we suppose he has thirty head of horses of 
all ages, and machinery enough to -tart an agricultural store. 
lie is always on the 1ook.nu for the best machines adapted 
to fanning and keeps them well housed and in good order. 
Mr. Barnes is now in the prime of manhood and well 
deserves the name of hustler, lie does not say "go boys," 
hut "o mie b( 1) -." 

lie is ver\ public spirited and it always ready to do 
more than his part. He takes an active part in School Dis- 
trict No. 1 and also in the M. E. Church in Forest City, 
though not a member take- a great interest in its welfare. 
For a number of years he has been chorister, and his place 
i- seldom vacant. 

lie is very decided in hi- opinions on all questions both 
in church and state, and ivve to express an opinion. We 
think he can visit the World's Fair and see more, and ask 
more questions in the same length of time than any man in 
the township. Mr. Barnes has a large heart and is ever 
reach' to assist the sick and need)' and would take all his 
teams out of the field to attend a funeral. 



364 



History of Mason County 



Mr. Barnes has had six children born in his home. Miss 
Hattie, the eldest, is a young lady just blooming into woman- 
hood, two boys and one girl have gone 

"Where flowers forever bloom 
And the fields are eternally fair." 

He is well posted on all public affairs, both church and 
state and ready to work for the moral improvement of the 
community. 




CHAPTER XL. 



THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF HAVANA 




[MONG the early settlers in the town of Havana 
was that of Asa Langford who came from the 
southern part of Illinois and first settled in 
Lewistown in the year [829, and in 1830 be- 
came a resident of Havana. He was a large fine looking 
man, about six feet three inches in height, and would weigh 
two hundred pounds. lie was a man of great energy and 
perseverance and commanded a great influence among his 
fellow men. lie was a Democrat and a strong supporter 
of Andrew Jackson and was 1 me of the leaders of his party. 
After living at 1 lavana about a year he purchased about one 
half of the town of Waterford and moved to that place, lie 
was a keen, shrewd business man and always ready for a 
trade. Although he had never had the advantage of an educa- 
tion there were but few men that could excel him in a busi- 
ness capacity, for when he was married he could neither read 
nor write his own name, but his wife was a lady of fair 
education for those times, and she taught him to read and to 
write his own name in a good legible style. Me received 
the appointment of postmaster of Waterford. and with his 
wife's assistance he got along with it very well. In [837 
he built a tlat boat at Waterford and loaded it with pork, 
grain and produce of different kinds and ran it down to 
Xew Orleans. He told the people before he left with his 
flat boat that he expected to trade a part of his Waterford 



366 History of Mason County 

town lots for a steamboat before he returned, but was 
laughed at by his friends, for they believing that such a 
thing as trading Water ford town lots for a steamboat would 
be impossible, but Langford had the faith that he could 
accomplish almost anything that he undertook. So he had a 
plat of the town of Waterford made out and a copy of the 
records made out showing that he was the legal owner of 
the property, all of which he took with him to New Orleans, 
and after disposing of his cargo of produce and his flat boat 
he and his flat boat crew went to a clothing store and all 
fitted themselves out with a new suit of clothes, for Lang- 
ford, when well dressed, was a noble looking man and a 
fluent talker, and would make friends where many others 
would fail. He and his men traveled up and down the 
wharf at New Orleans and visited many steamboats and 
made the acquaintance of the captains and told them that 
his business was to purchase a small steamboat for use as a 
packet for the Illinois river trade. He left his address and 
the name of the hotel that he was stopping at and in a few 
days a gentleman called to see him that owned a steamboat 
called the Navigator, which was for sale. It was a one 
decked boat that had been running in the Arkansas river 
in the cotton trade. It was a strong, well built boat and a 
fast runner, and his price for it was four thousand dollars. 
Mr. Langford examined the boat and was satisfied with the 
price. Mr. Langford then told him that he did not have 
the money to pay down for the boat, but that he had some 
valuable town property that he would let him have that in 
all probability would be better to him than the money. 
He then showed him the town plat of the town of Water- 
ford, describing to him that it was laid out on the bank of 
Spoon river, at the head of steamboat navigation; that it 
was in Fulton county, Illinois, the best county in the state, 
and surrounded by a rich and fertile county, and would, 
in all probability, in a few years become a large commer- 
cial city, something like those of Peoria and Chicago. 



History of Mason County 367 

The men that he took with him on the flat boat were 
from Waterford and were on hand to testify to all that he 
had told about the town of Waterford. So the owner of 
the boat got a lawyer t< > examine Lang-ford's title papers 
and found that they were all correct and the trade was made. 
Mr. Langford having marked the price of each lot on the 
town plat, all the man that sold the boat had to do was to se- 
lect enough of the lots to come to four thousand dollars and 
the title papers were passed between them and the Navigator 
was turned over to Langford and he started up the Mississip- 
pi with her. When he got to St. Louis he sent word to his 
friends that the Navigator would lie at Havana on a cer- 
tain day, and when she arrived there a large crowd had 
gathered there to welcome him and a jolly good time they 
had. When Mr. Langford traded his Waterford lots for 
the steamboat lie told the man that he traded with, that 
Spoon river was navigable for steamboats as far tip as 
Waterford, although steamboats had never yet run up that 
far, so to make his word good lie determined to run the 
Navigator up that far and so he did, but it was the first 
attempt that was ever made to run a steamboat tip that far. 
The river happened to be in a good stage of water at the 
time and before the boat got to Waterford eight or ten 
leaning trees that leaned over the river had to be cut down, 
and much drift wood that had closed up a portion of 
the channel of the river had to be cleared away, and it took 
him two days to make the trip, but he did take her up and 
tied up to a tree in Waterford, and great crowds of people 
came to see the Navigator. 

After Captain Langford had run the boat between St. 
Louis and Peoria for a number of months, he offered to 
-ell her for three thousands dollars, so C. W. Andrews, 
X. J. Rockwell, L. W. Ross and H. L. Ross purchased her 
at that price and C. W. Andrews was the captain, H. L. 
Ross clerk, Asa Langford pilot, and Alexander Stewart 
was mate. When Asa Langford purchased the Navigator 



368 History of Mason County 

at New Orleans he found a young Irishman on hoard of 
her who had been running on her as mate whose name was 
Alexander Stewart. He took a liking to Langford and 
wanted to continue on the boat in the capacity of mate, 
which he did and brought him to Havana and he continued 
to act as mate on the Navigator until she was sold to some 
parties in Beardstown. 

Mr. Alexander Stewart afterward became one of the 
principal business men and property owners of Havana. 

I will relate a little circumstance that took place while 
we were running the steamboat Navigator. The boat had 
made a trip from St. Louis to Peoria and on her return 
down the river there came up a terrible storm and the 
rain came down in torrents. It was in the night and the 
night was so dark that an object could not be discerned 
five rods ahead of the boat and as we were passing what 
was then called Sharp's Landing, some sixteen miles below 
Havana, Asa Langford was the pilot at the wheel and 
Alexander Stewart was standing watch, we came into 
sudden collision with another steamboat called the Cold- 
water, which was coming up the river. The two boats came 
together with a terrible crash, breaking in the guards and 
the upper decks of the boats and knocking overboard the 
large anchor of the Navigator. A number of passengers 
were on board, with several ladies, and a terrible commo- 
tion took place, but Langford and Stewart stood nobly 
and bravely to their posts of duty and no one was hurt. 



AN INDIAN BATTLE AT HAVANA 

In 1826 a battle occurred at Havana at Ross' ferry. The 
Indians were victorious in the fight. The true history of the 
fight is as follows : 

Samuel Mallory and his stepson had rented the ferry of 
O. M. Ross. They were both settlers of Fulton county. 



History of Mason County 369 

This was before the tavern was built. Mallory was the 
father of Hiram Sander's wife and the grandfather of 
Mrs. Judge H. L. Bryant. A few years later they settled 
eight miles south of Canton in the direction of Lewistown. 
After they had been at Havana a few weeks they received 
by keel boat a barrel of whisky from St. Louis, as then they 
were expected to keep liquor for the accommodation of the 
traveling public. In fact the merchants in the country kept 
whisky the same as any other kind of goods. 

A party of Indians were traveling up the Illinois river 
in canoes and camped a half mile above the ferry. They 
came down to trade some furs for whisky, as they had 
been in the habit of doing with the Scoville's, but Mallory 
refused to let them have any whisky. As he was alone 
they drew their tomahawks and compelled him to give them 
whisky. \Ym. Nichols, who had been working in the woods 
came home and seeing the situation Mallory was in. slipped 
away and got a canoe and went across the mouth of Spoon 
river to where the keel boat was lying, but part of the boat's 
crew had started for Lewi-town. He soon overtook them 
and told them the situation Mallory was in; so each one of 
them cut a -tout hickory cane and went back to rescue Mal- 
lory. They found that some twenty-five Indians had Mal- 
lory completely under their control. Some of them were 
pretty drunk and were all having a jolly time except Mal- 
lory. The white men ordered the Indians to leave but they 
refused to go and then the tight commenced, the white men 
using their hickory clubs on the heads of the Indians. But 
the Indians were about four to , me and they succeeded 
111 getting the club- away from the white men. It was a 
pretty hard tight for a half hour and the whites would 
have probably whipped the Indians, but while they were in 
the fight they saw some squaws coming from the canoes 
with Indian spears and tomahawks for the use of the In- 
dian-: then the whites thought it was time to retreat and 
get more help. As they were running to the ferry boat 

24 



370 History of Mason County 

they discovered Simon Kelsey and a couple of Indians hav- 
ing- a hard fight near the river, and in attempting to capture 
the Indians one of them ran into the river and they took after 
him with the boat, and when they would get near him he 
would dive under the boat and come up a rod behind the 
boat and would make for the shore. The white men would 
then have to turn their boat and go after him again and 
he would play the same game of dodging them. They kept 
up this for a half an hour, and when they came upon him 
they could see his head two feet under the water. One of 
the men ran his arm down and caught him by the hair, 
and as he drew his head over the side of the boat another 
man drew his knife and cut the Indian's throat and left him 
to sink in the river. The men returned to the keel boat 
and William Nichols started to Lewistown for more men 
to fight the Indians. He got there after dark and raised 
the alarm, and next morning fifteen men on horseback 
started for the battlefield. The company raised at Lewis- 
town were each armed with guns. When they got to the 
river at Havana they were joined by the crew of the keel 
boat that had the fight with the Indians the day before, 
with the exception of Kelsey, who had been badly used 
up the day before and was not able to go with them. 
The men all got on the ferry boat and took as many horses 
as they could crowd on the boat and started across the river. 
Some squaws a little way down the river saw the men 
coming and ran and told the Indians that a great com- 
pany of white men were coming with guns. The Indians 
took alarm and started to run. Some went to their canoes 
and started up the river; some ran to the woods. The men 
followed the Indians that ran to the woods until they got in 
the swamp a few miles up the Quiver Lake and had to give 
up the chase. The company came back to Havana to Mal- 
lory's, where the fight had taken place the day before. 
They found some pools of blood and a short distance two 
newlv-made graves, showing that the fight had been a hard 



History of Mason County 371 

one and that two Indians had been killed with clubs, be- 
sides the one whose throat had been cut on the ferry boat. 
They also found that eight or ten gallons had been taken 
from Mallory's whisky barrel and that his household goods 
had not been touched. So ended the Indian fight at Ross' 
ferry. After that time. Mallory and Nichols kept the ferry 
for a year and never had any more trouble with the Indians. 
O. M. Ross then moved to Havana and took charge of the 
ferry himself. The Indian that had his throat cut floated 
down the river and landed in some driftwood at the head 
of an island three miles below Havana. There was at 
that time a man by the name of John Hemford, who was 
long a resident of Bernadette. One Sunday John went 
down to the island and brought up the skull and jawbone. 
Harvey Ross decided that he could have lots of Urn in 
frightening the Indians who were superstitious. After 
thoroughly cleaning the skull and jawbone he hastened it 
-.11 a stick about four feet long, the lower end to stick 
in the ground. 1 le put into it a lighted candle. When the 
scarecrow was set up on a dark night with the candle lighted 
it was certainly the most horrible object mortal eyes ever 
beheld. About a mile above Havana there were eighteen 
or twenty wigwams of [ndians. They were in the habit 
of coming to Havana every week to do some trading and 
would frequently stay until after dark before starting home. 
Harvey knew the path they traveled and would have the 
skull set up a few rods from their path. When they would 
discover it they would run as fast as their legs would carry 
them and frightened nearly to death. It made a great com- 
motion among the Indians for awhile, but Harvey's father 
found out what was going on and put a stop to Harvey's 
fun. One dav a steamboat lauded at Havana and Harvey 
went down and sold it to the poilot for $2. The outfit put it 
on the bow of the boat at night to scare the natives along 
the river. Soon after. ( ). M. Ross went to Havana. lie- 
built three warehouses, one on the east side of the river 



^"jz History of Mason County 

and two on the west side. One was north of Schoonovers' 
and one on the south side. They were built of logs and 
were used to store the produce of the farmers who lived 
on both sides of the river. The upper part of the ware- 
house on the Havana side of the river he finished off for 
a store and opened up a stock of goods. The nearest store 
on the west of him was at Lewistown, twelve miles west, 
and New Salem, twenty-five miles on south. The Phelp's 
had a trading fort nine miles, on Grand Island, below Ha- 
vana. Ross had a large trade with the Indians, for they 
were scattered all over the country, up and down the Illi- 
nois river, and both sides of the Spoon river. These wig- 
wams could be counted by the hundreds. About the mouth 
of Spoon river was a great resort for them. Indian ponies, 
hundreds of them, would be brought every fall to feed on 
the grass that kept green all winter, and if there was a 
deep snow the Indians would chop down small trees for 
these ponies to browse on till the snow went off. Ross 
would often sell them goods on credit for six months, but 
would require a recommendation of some of their chiefs 
which made them very punctual in paying their debts. The 
Indians were very numerous in all this country, until 1832, 
when the Blackhawk war broke out and thev all went west. 



CHAPTER XLI. 



THE OLD HAVANA HOTEL 




THINK a description of the first hotel in Ha- 
vana would interest young and old. It stood 
till 1850. I recollect of being there one Sun- 
day evening with James Covington until 12 
o'clock at night. Old man Brown was then keeping the 
hotel. Brown had some girls which I presume was the 
reason that we were there. The next morning the hotel 
went up in Haines. I don't know whether Covington and 
myself were ever charged with setting it on nre or not, but 
we were there a short time before it burned. Old settlers 
will remember the old tavern. 

I got possession of a copy of a book published by Harvey 
L. Ross, who moved to Los Angeles, Cal., about twenty-five 
years ago. in which he gives a description of the early set- 
tlement of Lewistown and Havana and the building of the 
hotel and the trouble in getting the material on the ground. 

It will interest the younger generation of today to know 
something of the hardships the old pioneers had to endure 
and what fortitude they endured — what they undertook. 
It was certainly a great undertaking to build such a house 
at that time. 

There was no pine lumber nearer than Cincinnati and 
the few saw mills at that time had been erected on small 
streams in Fulton county, therefore most of the lumber used 
in the hotel was sawed by hand with a whip saw. 



374 History of Mason County 

When the building was completed it was in all prob- 
ability the largest building in Central Illinois and cost more 
than any other building in the state. 

The building was commenced late in 1 831 and finished 
in 1833. It combined hotel and store and was eighty feet 
long and thirty feet wide, with upper and lower story 
porches ten feet wide on each side of the house. The 
main part of the hotel was four stories high and the store 
part two and a half stories high. The first story was built 
of stone twelve inches thick and also a floor of stone, the 
balance of the building was wood. 

There were two large chimneys with three fire places 
opening into one and four in the other. All the lumber, 
stone and lime used in building the house was brought from 
Fulton county. The sills, posts and joists and other large 
timbers were cut and hewn in the woods. 

The stone was taken out of a hill in Liverpool town- 
ship and carried by boat down the river to Havana. The 
lime was burned in the same township by Zenos Hening- 
ton and hauled in a truck wheeled wagon to Havana by 
two yoke of oxen. There was not a particle of iron used in 
the construction of the wagon. The wheels and every part 
were wholly of wood. 

Air. Henington had no need to call for the ferry boat 
when he came to Havana for the ferryman could hear the 
creaking of the wagon a half a mile away. 

The timber used in building the hotel was white oak, 
ash, black and white walnut. The weather-boarding and 
shingles were split out of white oak timber and shaved to 
a proper thickness with a drawing knife. The weather- 
boarding was four feet long and the shingles twenty-eight 
inches. The laths were split out in the woods and all the 
doors, window sashes and mouldings were made by hand. 

The weather-boarding and shingles were made near 
Lewistown by Jonathan Cadwalader and his sons, Issac and 
John. They were Quakers. The carpenter work was done 



History of Mason County 375 

by Moses Lewis and Alex Freeman and Isaac and Jesse 
Benson. The mason work was done by Ben Hartlan and 
the painting by Andrew Mayfield. 

Their names are mentioned because they were old set- 
tlers and their descendants are still living-. About twenty- 
five years the big hotel and store was destroyed by fire 
and there was no insurance. Walker and Hancock kept the 
first store there and Hunt and McEndree were in the house 
when it burned. 

Ossian Ross kept the store and ran the hotel up to the 
time of his death in 1837. His wife and Lewis adminis- 
tered on the estate. His stock of g 1- and personal prop- 
erty was appraised at $9,000 and the sale amounted to 
$10, 000. 

After the family moved back to Canton in 1840 Har- 
vey L. Ross, having married, took charge of the hotel and 
ferry and ran them for three year-. 

There was no court house at that time in the county and 
so court was held in the bar room and some other rooms 
were used for jury rooms. It was there that such men as 
Abraham Lincoln, John J. Hardin, Ed. Baker, 11. M. Weed, 
\\ . C. Goudy and J. Boice attended the court- and took 
part in pioneer law suits. At one time of court Gen. Hardin 
had a narrow escape from death. He was very fond of 
hunting and went out one morning to try his luck tor deer. 
At that time there were plenty along the Illinois river. He 
did not have to travel far until he saw a deer and drew up 
his gun and fired at it. but instead of killing the deer the 
breech pin flew out of his gun and struck him in the face 
making a terrible wound. It was several days before he 
could be taken home and he carried the scar until his death. 
Mr. Lincoln never appeared to care very much about 
hunting and seldom engaged in that sport. His chief 
amusement and delight was in telling stories and anecdote-, 
lu the role of story telling 1 newer knew his equal. Hi- 



376 History of Mason County 

power of mimicry was very great. He could perfectly mimic 
a Dutchman, Irishman or Negro. 

In the evening after court had adjourned a great crowd 
would gather around Lincoln in the bar room to listen to 
Lincoln's stories and he seemed to enjoy to the utmost, the 
peals of laughter that would fill the house. I have heard 
men say that they had laughed at his stories until they had 
almost shaken their ribs loose. 

I heard of cases where men have been suffering for years 
with some bodily ailments and could get no relief but who 
have gone a couple of evenings and listened to Lincoln and 
laughed their ailments away and became hale and hearty 
men, giving Lincoln credit of being their healer. 

It was during the time that my father was building the 
Havana hotel that he had a two hundred acre farm fenced 
and improved just east of Havana and which is now in the 
corporate limits of Havana. 

The rails having been made on the banks of Spoon river 
and boated down that river and across the Illinois. 

In 1833 during the Blackhawk war when so many peo- 
ple were leaving the military tract for fear of the Indians he 
put his whole force at work and built a fort or block house 
at Havana to be a refuge for the white settlers. The effect 
was to stop the ruinous stampede of people from Fulton 
county. 

Gen. L. F. Ross thinks there were three block houses 
built instead of one; one on each side of the hotel and one 
on the west side and north of Spoon river. 

On the road to Lewistnwn Gen. Ross says that the people 
of Fulton helped to build those houses. The mouth of Spoon 
river was then directly opposite Havana and the ferry ran 
to the upper side of Spoon river. 

The large hotel stood on the south side of Market street 
on the edge of a high bluff overlooking the river. The bluff 
has been cut down and the site of the hotel is now vacant. 



History of Mason County 377 

THE EARLY SETTLEMENT OF MASON COUNTY 

When the first settlement was made in what is known as 
Mason county the settlers found that the Indians had pre- 
ceded them and had erected their wigwams in many places 
and were cultivating the lands in small patches, growing- 
corn, beans, potatoes, squashes and many other kinds of 
vegetables. Their settlements were mostly along the Illinois 
river, and on Quiver and Crane Creek. The squaws usually 
cultivated the gardens, and the Indians followed hunting and 
fishing. They raised a great many horses and that was the 
only kind of stock they raised. 

In the fall of the year they would gather large quantities 
of hickory nuts and pecans which were very abundant in 
that early day. These they would sell to the merchants of 
the towns, or sometimes take them to St. Louis in their 
cam »es to sell. The Indians were inclined to be friendly when 
kindly treated, unless they were intoxicated. Then some- 
times they would be ugly and would claim that the country 
still belonged to them, and that their ancestors first settled 
the country, and that their head men had never sold it, and 
that the Indians, whom the white people claimed they had 
bought the land from, were not the chiefs nor the head men 
of the nation, and had no right to -ell it. And besides the 
great white chief, the president, had never paid the Indians 
f< >r the land. 

When the Blackhawk war broke out in 1832 the Patto- 
watomie [ndians that lived in that part of the country went 
up north to the Rock river country and many of them joined 
the Indians under Black 1 lawk and soon after that hostilities 
broke out in that part of the country. A company of twenty 
men that was out as scouts were surrounded by the Indians 
and all killed. Immediately after the Indians made a raid 
on a small settlement on Indian creek, near Rock river. 
Three families by the name of Davis. Hill and Pettigrew, 
were attacked in the day time and all massacred except two 



378 History of Mason County 

young ladies whom they took prisoners. The Indians after- 
wards related how the ladies squawked like geese. All the 
victims were scalped. One man's head was cut off and stuck 
on a pole beside the river. 

The women and children were tied up to the joists of the 
house by their feet, and the two young ladies that were taken 
prisoners were tied upon horses and taken in great haste a 
long way into the wilderness. Two of the young braves 
claimed them and intended to have them as their squaws 
or wives, but were afterwards released on the receipt of two 
thousand dollars. There were other circumstances that took 
place in those times that caused great excitement and alarmed 
the people of Mason county. One was called Stillman's de- 
feat or Stillman's run. It was a fight Stillman had with the 
Indians in the Rock creek river country northwest of Peoria 
in which Stillman was defeated and lost thirteen of his men 
killed and a number wounded. Most of them were residents 
of Fulton county. 

Another circumstance took place, Waterfield's defeat, 
which occasioned a general stampede of the people living in 
the north part of Fulton count}'. They believing that an at- 
tack had been made by the Indians in the settlement west of 
Canton on which rumor hundreds of people left their homes 
and crossed the Illinois river at Havana. These circum- 
stances caused the citizens of Havana and surrounding coun- 
try much alarm. They believed that many of the Indians 
that had lived in that vicinity and had gone to the Rock river 
country had taken part in those massacres and as they knew 
all the country around Havana so well that they would go 
to Peoria and take possession of the ferry boats and what 
crafts they could find and come down the Illinois river and 
make an attack on the people and try to recover their old 
home where they had lived so many years and where their 
ancestors had been buried. The alarm was great and the 
people determined that they would build a couple of forts 
or block houses as they were called. These block houses 



History of Mason County 379 

were built of logs. One was built on the bluff near the ferry 
landing-, northwest of the Havana hotel. This block house 
was 25x30 feet in size and two stories high and was built 
so that the upper story projected over the lower story two 
feet. Port holes were made in both stories for the use of 
their muskets and rifles. The only floor was in the upper 
story, and the entrance to the same was by a ladder which 
was drawn in by night. The other block house was built 
south of the hotel on a high knoll. This was twenty feet 
square, two stories high, the upper story was covered with 
plank sufficiently heavy to bear up the weight of a cannon 
and commanded a range of a mile or so. 

Up and down the river a great, -many people that had fled 
from counties west of the river would stop at 1 lavana and go 
into these block houses during the night and there is no 
doubt that a great many people, would have left the country 
if those block houses had not been built. 

The block house north of the hotel was still standing in 
1846 when I lirst came to Havana. The people now living 
in Havana have but little idea of the privation that the early 
settler endured and the suspense and excitement they had to 
undergo while in constant fear of the Indians. Yet most of 
the Indians vver£ disposed to keep their treaties with the 
whites and most of the trouble occurred from the overhear- 
ing conduct of the "pale faces." 



SPRING LAKE 

The ancient village that stood on the bluffs of the Illinois 
river on the dividing line between Mason and Tazewell coun- 
ties, one so full of life and traffic, the emporium of trade, 
has gone the way of all the earth like the ancient Babylon or 
Salem, and exists only in the memory of the old inhabitants. 
I first s ;i \ V the village in 1852. There was a sawmill in the 
bottoms on the stream that ran front the pike holes to the 



380 History of Mason County 

river. There was a warehouse on the river kept by a man by 
the name of Conant in which the grain was hauled when the 
river was low and the roads were good. Perhaps 100,000 
tons of corn and wheat were marketed from Spring Lake. 
It drained the grain from Egypt on the east, from Mackinaw 
on the north, from Red Oak and Crane Lake on the south. 
The wheat was hauled in sacks furnished by the grain mer- 
chants and the corn was in gunny sacks. Grain from the 
west, came from Tight Row and Devils Neck. More than 
half of the grain was hauled with ox teams. 

The roads were very sandy and fifty bushels was a great 
load for two or three yoke of oxen and it took a day to make 
a trip. Of course the teamster would hook a load of wood 
as he returned home which was very plenty after the cyclones 
had cut wide swaths through the Long Point lumber. A 
warehouse had been started at Spring Lake by Pratt & Moore 
under the hill and a Tobogan slide had been built from the 
top of the hill clown to it, of plank three feet wide with side- 
boards. A gunny sack would be started down at an angle 
of forty-five degrees. A boy would ride the sacks of corn 
down the slide into the warehouse at railroad speed. It was 
fun for the boy, but dangerous. As the slide had several 
turns to make, and sometimes the boy and sack would jump 
the track and land outside the warehouse. There were three 
expert ox drivers, Lige Davis, Frank Pemberton and John 
Maloney. Each had his peculiar ways of making an ox pull 
a load and those who had to make a choice between the three 
would give the preference to Lige who had a whip with a 
lash ten feet long and a stock of corresponding length and a 
good buckskin cracker. Lige would make the head steer 
toe the mark or make the tongue steers hold the whole team 
come to a halt, but with the war of the rebellion an ox was 
worth more for beef than for work and they went out of 
date. Frank Pemberton died in the fifties, John Maloney 
moved away. Lige Davis served three years in the war of 
the rebellion and is still alive and healthy. Having disposed 



History of Mason County 381 

of the ox drivers we come down to the inhabitants of Du- 
rang\ Bob Jones and his brother Joe kept a trading house 
when we first knew the place and lived in the town until 
they started for Pike's Peak or bust and with them S. T. 
Walker and Jack Rankin. They went with an ox team. S. 
T. Walker can sometimes be coaxed to tell of some of the 
incidents of the trip. They never saw the Peak as the further 
they went the more people they met coming back. The 
Jones' staved west. S. T. Walker, who is now our efficient 
postmaster came back. Mosteler and Brown succeeded Pratt 
& Co., and for several years did a large business both in 
grain and goods. They would go to St. Louis once a year 
and buy large stocks of goods and sell them on long credit 
and take the farmer's corn and wheat in payment. James, 
Brown. I think is dead. G. S. Mosteler lives in Pittsburg, 
Kansas. Moseler served in the Mexican war and of course 
is an old man. T saw him a few years ago. He is still in his 
prime and bids fair to live many years yet. Andrew Pollard 
flourished for several years as a merchant. Andy was a genial 
man. who would sell a man's goods for six months then sue 
him on the old bill, get a judgment then start a new account 
and invite the man to dinner with him. While Andy kept 
store in the upper story, the cellar was run on a different 
basis. Gambling tables were run at full speed. There were 
holes in the floor and the drinkers orgies could be heard at ail 
times. Many were the combats that transpired in the base- 
ment. Andy's wife was Phoebe 1 tughton whom he married 
in Menard. She was a fine woman though slow of speech. 
Andy would prove everything by Phoebe. "Ain't that so 
Phoebe?" he would say every few minutes. Pollard raised 
a company and made a good record in the war of the rebel- 
lion and afterward settled in Manito, where he died twenty 
years ago. Bill Trent was another man who did business at 
Spring Lake. He was a great trader, while he dealt in notes 
which he traded for horses, cattle, sheep and hogs. He 
would start out for a trading tour taking bred Westfall with 



3S2 History of Mason County 

him and perhaps with a hundred notes from twenty to a 

hundred dollars each, though he could not read a word. He 

had some way he could pick out a note he wanted, but he 

finally traded for a stock of goods of Tackenburg of Pekin. 

Trent owned a farm near Forest City which was all sand, 

Tackenburg was coming down to see it, but Trent got him 

to wait till a big snow covered it all over and then sent word 

for him to "come." Tackenburg thought it very nice rolling 

land and the trade was made. He did not stay in the store 

much. Every person in Spring Lake clerked for him. He 

bought grain and called everybody Bud. He would meet 

a person and say. "Bud, I am going down to St. Louis and 

thus bring up lots of gold." Trent had two boys. Press and 

Aleck, whom he determined to educate. So he fixed them 

up with new suits and a gold watch and took them to Peoria. 

The next day the boys came back to Spring Lake having 

gone through college. The doctors were Dr. Camp, Dr. E. 

Y. Nichols and J. W. Xeal. Nichols kept the best of horses 

and was very attentive to his patients. Dr. Neal married a 

Rankin and left about the time of the war. There was a 

saloon built on the line between Tazewell and Mason so if 

an officer came from Tazewell the keeper would step on the 

Mason side and if from Mason would just walk on the other 

side. The farmer living close was John Williams, who had 

about twenty families to support, he was a horse trader and 

every person who wanted to buy or sell anything had to go 

and see John Williams. Pollard Anno bought out Williams 

and built one of the finest houses in Mason county. Thos. 

Landes lived near town. He had a rough exterior but a kind 

heart and hated all put on politeness. One day he rode to 

Pekin with Green Pemberton. A dude of a clerk came up 

rubbing his hands and bowing and scraping said in French 

style, "What can I do for you Mr. Landes?" "Go sit down 

and mind your own business, when I want anything I will 

ask for it," said Landes. The clerk wilted. James Adams 

Jived near by and was always in town. James Moore, the 



History of Mason County 



3^3 



father of Bob Moore, lived east of town on a farm he bought 
of Slicky Bill Green. Among the earliest settlers of Spring 
Lake were : Xellie Rankin. Joe Jones, Jack Jones. Bob, and 
Jack Paine, Ash Duncan. Isaac M. Hamer, Kush Layton, 
Andy Pollard, Wm. Combs. Jerry Miller, W. W. Stewart. 
Wm. Trent. Geo. Maltby, Joe Gregory, Alex. Trent, Jason 
Matheney, S. T. Walker and Jack Walker. Conant & 
Jones were merchants up to 1853: Pratt & Moore to [855; 
Mosteler & I >r< >un to 1 857 ; Pollard & Walker to 1857 ; Ran- 
dolph & Co. to [858; Smith Mosher to 1857; Wm. Trent 
and Rutenberg & Rankin, '56 to '68. Spring Lake is now a 
desolate waste; only a few cellars that Time has failed to fill 
with drifting land marks. The places once so busy with 
trade and traffic are now relegated to oblivion. The advent 
of Egypt station, Manito and Forest City scaled the fate of 
Spring Lake. So Spring Lake is only used as a fishing- 
headquarters. 




CHAPTER XLII. 



HAVANA FROM 1845 TO i860 




HE following is taken from the Manito Express 
in 1892 and is taken from the gifted pen of 
Miss Gertie White, who now lives at Murphys- 
boro, Tenn. 

T. G. OXSTOT. 

It was one of the hot, sweltering days of July, about the 
twentieth as near as I can remember, in the year of 1829 that 
a baby boy came to live in a little cabin in Sugar Grove in 
Menard county. It was not a stately mansion that first 
sheltered that babe, nor a 76 rocker that sung him to sleep. 
It was an old fashioned cradle of a planed box with a home 
made rocker at each end that snugly held the sleeping child, 
and the roof over head was covered with clapboards and 
great hewn logs formed the walls. 

At that time the red man's shrieks and yells disturbed the 
peace within the cabin and the bleak winds swept from the 
north. It was indeed a wild and wooley west but the pioneer 
parents knew no fear for their hands were willing and their 
hearts were light and many were the happy hours spent in 
the humble dwelling. 

The babe, nursed by a mother's protecting care, grew 
both in statue and knowledge and like all children, in due 
time received a name, which has since been shortened to 1. 
G. 

When T. G. was old enough to appreciate the beauties 



History of Mason County 385 

of Life his father took him to a new home in Salem, two 
miles above where Petersburg now stands. 

His father was engaged in the cooper trade and also kept 
the village hotel, a two story log house. At this place the 
well known Abraham Lincoln., who boarded with T. G.'s 
father, trotted the little tad on his knee. For the most part 
of two years the noble Lincoln made his home with Mr. 
Onstot. In 1840 T. G. removed with his father to Peters- 
burg. During this time occurred the campaign of Tippe- 
canoe. Here T. G. imbibed the true spirit of patriotism, 
one that has always remained, and the good old patriotic 
songs whose echoes will resound from hills ancient as the 
sun, in centuries to come, were sung clear and with enthusi- 
asm from the lips of the lad. 

While here T. G. spent his time in school and helping 
his father and doing with his might what his hands found 
to do. 

In [846 he came to Mason county, near Havana, and 
engaged in farming, hi the twenty-second year of his life 
occurred the happy event of his life. It was a beautiful day 
and a beautiful scene. The sun never shone brighter, the 
bird- never warbled such a chorus, the flowers were never 
so fragrant as on that day. 

That day a cupid dart pierced his heart and he became a 
victim to the fair and beautiful, Sarah L. Ellsworth, and 
bestowing upon her the love outweighing all the jewels in 
the universe, the love of a true and noble heart. He became 
her husband. 

They purchased a neat home in Pleasant Plains and for 
many years enjoyed the life of a farmer to the utmost ex- 
tent. All their efforts were crowned with success. Their 
love was mutual and never grew less and with happy hearts 
did they sing "We'll love each other better dear, when we 
are old and gray." 

In their prosperity they never forgot that there was an all 
wise infinite one, who ruled the universe. 

25 



386 History of Mason County 

Mrs. Onstot was a faithful christian at the time of her 
marriage and by her loving influence soon brought her 
companion to the foot of the cross and who all these years 
has proven a faithful follower of Christ. 

Their happy home was blest with several sweet children, 
five laughing girls and two noisy boys. 

But "there never was a day so sunny but a cloud appears 
and never a life so happy but has its time of tears." 

Mr. Onstot, like all mankind, was called to pass through 
deep waters of affliction. Death visited his home and took 
away little Charlie, Nellie and Sarah, the sweet patient 
Ellen and his faithful and devoted wife. 

Their bodies were laid away in the beautiful cemetery on 
the farm then owned by ^Ir. Onstot. Naught of them re- 
mains but the names that fadeth not away. 

Three children remain, Mrs. Mary Bruning of Havana, 
a loved and esteemed lady. Mrs. Lulu Jackson of Forest 
City, who directs her little ones in the path of duty and vir- 
tue, and Miss Susie, a refined young lady, making home 
pleasant for her father. 

Since 1866 Mr. Onstot has resided in Forest City. He 
has a beautiful home surrounded by all the pleasures and 
luxuries of life. 

He is one of Forest City's political, religious and com- 
mercial leaders and is engaged in the lumber, grain 
and mercantile business. He has been tax collector and 
justice of the peace for many years. 

He is a leading member of the M. E. church. His chris- 
tian influence and example has always been for the good 
and right and for directing wayward souls in the way of 
righteousness. 

He is a Methodist by name, yet liberal enough to think 
that other coats, "if true to their colors," will pass through 
the pearly gates. 

Mr. Onstot is a jolly man, always in a good humor and 
has a hearty shake of the hand for all. 



History of Mason County 387 

Is strictly prohibition, never using tobacco in any form 
or profane language. Although deprived of the advantages 
now enjoyed by young Americans of the day, Mr. Onstot 
may truthfully be called a talented gentleman. With an 
abundance of good judgment together with the scant educa- 
tion he received under great disadvantages, he is equal to all 
emergencies. 

And though his hair is now sprinkled with the frost of 
time, may he yet live to see many hidden hopes bloom into 
reality and may many years still be in store for him. 



THE CHURCHES 

The Baptist and Methodist churches were organized in 
1 [avana about the same time, but we will notice the Baptist 
first. In 1846 Mrs. Lydia 1 tancock, a very excellent woman, 
opened her house for preaching and Sunday school. She 
had moved here from Dearborn county. Indiana, and there 
being no churches she held services in her dwelling. The 
first preacher was John L. Turner, who lived in Crane Creek. 
Air. Turner fanned all week and preached somewhere with- 
in a radius of fifteen or twenty miles on Sunday. Turner 
had a fairly good education and preached the gospel because 
of the love he had for it. He was very liberal in his views 
anil seldi 'in preached a w hi >le sermon on the mode of baptism. 
He had not read Shakespeare nor the poets much, but with 
the bible J. L. Turner was well acquainted from Genesis to 
Revelations, hence his sermons fairly glittered with quota- 
tions from the holy writ. Everybody liked him and he sel- 
dom had a light attendance when he preached. He died on 
Crane Creek, where he always lived, lie was a man who 
preached and earned his living beside. We wish there were 
more John L. Turners. 



388 History of Mason County 

There were three brothers that lived in Mason and Ful- 
ton counties about this time named Bawlding - . John was the 
oldest and lived in Fulton county. He was a very eccentric 
character. They had their share of common sense but not 
much book learning. They had not theiioly tone or whang 
doodle style that many of the early Baptist preachers affected 
but simply preached like other people. 

John Bawlding had a hatred for dogs and could not bear 
the sight of one in the house while he was preaching. One 
Sunday while he was preaching in the old schoolhouse m 
Havana, Mrs. George Robinson, who had a little rat dog 
that followed her wherever she went, came into church and 
of course the dog was with her. Mrs. Robinson took her 
seat near the door and the dog crouched at her feet. Scarce- 
ly anybody noticed it but John evidently saw the dog or 
smelled it. Stopping short he said: "Brethren there is a 
dog in the house and you know the price of a dog was not 
allowed to be brought into the sanctuary in olden times and 
I don't think the animal himself should be allowed to come 
in. I would therefore thank you to take it out as this meet- 
ing cannot proceed while the dog is in the house." 

The men sat and looked at each other and the boys of 
my size giggled and laughed but nobody put the dog out. 
The suspense soon began to grow painful, when finally 
Judge Rockwell, a very precise old gentleman, who was al- 
ways well dressed, came to the rescue and went for the dog. 
He thought he would just motion the dog out with his cane 
but the dog was not built that way. He took it that :.e 
Judge was about to make war on his mistress and so made a 
charge on the Judge and tore a piece out of his pants leg. 
The Judge retreated crestfallen while the congregation 
laughed hilariously and Mrs. Robinson indignantly left the 
church with her dog. 

James Bawlding lived near the mounds at the mouth 01 
Quiver Lake. He farmed through the week and preached 
on Sunday, and was not much of a success at either. He 



History of Mason County 389 

was always trying to find some way to make work easier. 
We recollect one spring he used his sleigh to cross the 
ground for corn. It made two rows at a time. The neigh- 
bors were nearly ready to mob him as they said it was lazi- 
ness which made him make his poor horse haul him back and 
forth across the field. But Bawlding was making two rows 
to their one. 

Seba Bawlding lived in town and fished during the fish- 
ing season and made some very large hauls. He moved to 
California in an early day. . Seba would preach on Sundays 
whenever there was an opening for him and was about ai 
good a preacher as either of his brothers, except that he mur- 
dered the English language terribly and would give a 
learned preacher fits. On one occasion he said Paul was not 
a learned man. "Why." he said, "Paul said himself that he 
was brought up at the foot of Gamel Hill and who ever 
heard of a college at the foot of Gamel Hill?" At another 
time he quoted from the Apostle "Jim," to shorten the name 
we suppose. The Bawldings were all good honest men and 
preached the gospel in its simplicity. 

There was another Baptist preacher named Norton who 
worked at the shoemaker's trade with Osborn. He belonged 
to the hard shell variety and had the holy tone. He would 
work himself up so bad that sometimes it would take him 
several «iays to get over it. And yet no person who was ac- 
quainted with him ever doubted his Christianity. He was 
raised and educated in the whang doodle style. 

John McDaniel preached occasionally in Havana about 
the time the war broke out. The Rev. F. Ingmire also 
preached some in Havana about the same time. He was an 
intensely loyal man and prayed for the success of the union 
arms. At one time he had an appointment in the country. 
It was sacrament day and an old Baptist deacon had the ele- 
ments 1 ire] tared. He brought the bread and wine and set 
them on the table. Ingmire opened up with a song and then 
prayed and as usual asked the Lord to knock the Southern 



390 History of Mason County 

Confederacy into a cocked hat, to destroy slavery and let 
the oppressed go free. This was more than the old deacon 
could stand and he crawled on his hands and knees and got 
his basket off the table. When Ingmire finished his prayer 
the deacon was on his way home at a 2 40 gait. Ingmire 
took in the situation and informed his congregation that 
owing to circumstances over which he had no control there 
would be no Lord's supper that day. The occurrence was 
published in the county papers at the time and widely copied 
by the neighboring press. 



ROBERT McREYNOLDS 

must have come to Mason county in the early forties as 
he was living east of Havana when we first came to the 
country. He was a man of decided convictions. In religion 
a Methodist, not of patent-right kind but one of the John 
Wesley kind. In politics he was a democrat of the Thomas 
Jefferson kind. Like most of the early settlers, he did not 
settle on the prairies, though thousands of acres lay vacant 
at $1.25 an acre ready for the plow. He chose rather to 
clear a farm out in the brush east of where Uncle Alex Hop- 
ping lives. 

He had a large family of three boys and six girls, and he 
lived on this farm till his family grew to womanhood and 
manhood. All respected for their moral worth, they were 
quiet in their demeanor and attended to their own business. 

Mr. McReynolds' house for many years was headquar- 
ters for Methodism and many a circuit rider found here a 
home, after a round of three weeks on his circuit. 

Uncle Robert was a great friend of campmeetings in his 
earlv days and always camped on the grounds. Campmeet- 
ing-s were held because churches were scarce and school- 
houses would not hold the people. They would commence 



History of Mason County 391 

on Tuesday and hold over till the next Tuesday. The tents 
would be built in a circular form around the auditorium 
where the people would be seated. Peter Acres, Peter Cart- 
right, William Rutledge and Rev. Shunck we recollect as 
preachers in those days. Uncle Robert enjoyed a camp- 
meeting and always took part in the exercises. 

YYe have heard an ancedote that occurred at one of these 
meetings that will hurt no one connected with it, which we 
beg leave to relate : It was the custom for the men to sit on 
one side and the ladies on the other side of the 
grounds and a committee was appointed to see 
that this was carried out. The meeting had got to be quite 
warm and interesting and some of the men had gotten on the 
women's side. Uncle Robert was near the altar and mo- 
tioned to Aaron — who was one of the transgressors, to come 
away while Aaron mistook his signals for him to come to the 
altar. "Not tonight Mr. McReynolds." Another signal was 
given and still Aaron mistook it for an invitation to come. 
Mr. McReynolds now getting impatient went to him and 
said. "I tell you. yon must come." "Not tonight Mr. Mc- 
Reynolds." About this time Aaron seeing that he must do 
something left the crowd and did not go to the altar. 

Mr. McReynolds stood in high esteem in the democratic 
party and was elected to nearly all the offices in their gift; 
Was county assessor, judge, justice of the peace and filled 
well all these offices. 1 le moved to 1 lavana in the fifties and 
was a highly respected citizen. His word was as good as 
Ins bond. No stain of character ever rested on him. He 
was an ideal christian citizen, was ever ready to bear any 
burden that w< »uld advance the cause of Christianity or better 
the condition of his fellow man. Would that there were 
more Robert McReynolds. 



392 History of Mason County 

THE HOWELL FAMILY 

The oldest was Charles who lived up near the Quiver 
mills and at one time was a cabinet maker. My father bought 
a set of chairs in 1849 °f him that now are in good order 
and are good enough for a parlor. He owned one hundred 
and sixty acres of as good land west of Howelltown as there 
was in the country. My brother R. J., broke forty acres of it 
for him with a big ox team referred to in a former letter. 

Charles Howell, while he made Quiver his home was of 
a roving disposition. He made a number of trips west and 
the last we heard of him he was down in Texas. He had 
some brothers whom we do not remember except Bart and 
Theodore. Bart lives in the corporate limits of Havana and 
for fifty years has been a good quiet citizen. The peniten- 
tiary would never have been built had all men been like Bart 
Howell. He will never have any use for the new jail in 
Havana. The lawyers will never get rich with the bills they 
collect of him. 

Theodore Howell was the youngest and moved to Mis- 
souri some years ago. He was a pretty good fellow. We 
often met him at corn huskings or wood choppings at night 
at the social gatherings where Theodore was always ready to 
do his part. We learned while at Havana Chautauqua from 
Bart that he was not expected to live. He had just received 
word from Missouri. 



OTHER OLD SETTLERS 

Mention might be made of Pulaski Scovel who lived at 
Waterford and at whose mill all the lumber was made that 
was used till the canal was finished, which was in 1850. The 
families that lived in the town got their living from the saw- 



History of Mason County 393 

mill. The whole country was heavily timbered, the bottoms 
with burr oak, walnut and hickory, while in the uplands was 
the finest of white oak. The mill at Water ford sawed some 
of the finest oak lumber that was ever marked, and Pulaski 
Scovel was the man that sawed it. Scovel owned a fine 
farm east of Havana where Rube Henninger now lives ; but 
in after years moved to Leases Grove, where he lived and 
died fifteen years ago, an old but much respected man. He 
delivered his lumber at Havana with ox teams. George 
Moranville was one of his drivers and could make an ox do 
anything he wanted. 

The day of oxen has passed away and a new era has 
dawned. Gore Palmer said at Old Salem that the horse race 
and shooting match had to go as the Chautauqua had taken 
its place. 

A circular sawmill at Havana in 1854, run by the Webbs, 
worked up the elm and cottonwood. I recollect getting a 
couple of thousand feet of it that shrunk four inches end- 
w ays and that t\\ isted around like a gin barrel. 

Yet the people were happy in those days, their wants 
were about in keeping with their income and there was more 
friendly feeling among the people. A man was measured by 
what he was worth, mentally and morally. Now we have 
so many pumpkin fed aristocrats that a modest man is kept 
in the back ground. 

As before mentioned we drove an ox team at Havana 
for years. Most of our hauling was from the bluffs above 
Waterford in Fulton county, where many good people lived 
and some that were not so good. There were the Mileses, 
the Warners, the Arnots and the Pottses, all good honest 
people. We often drove up there and stayed over night and 
the neighbors would come in to hear the news from town 
and to get us to do their figuring for them. Most of their 
figuring was as to the number of acres or rods they had 
errubbed for their neighbors. The land would be in all kinds 
of shapes and sizes. Sometimes they would want to know 



394 History of Mason County 

the amount that their rails would come to. There were no 
schoolhouses in the neighborhood at that time. But finally 
they agreed to build a schoolhouse and it was located on 
Tom Arnot's land. The people turned out and hewed the 
logs and built the house. Then the question arose as to who 
should teach the school. Tom Arnot thought as the build- 
ing was on his land he could teach the cheapest because he 
could board at home. Mrs. Potts objected. Her daughter, 
Hulda Ann had better "larnin." "Now," said she, "Tom 
Arnot has got no book larnin." He says there is only two 
rules in grammar ; one is to write the English language cor- 
rectly and the other is to write it properly. "Now," said 
she, " I know three more than that myself. There is ety- 
mology, sintax and prosidy and I don't know how many 
more." But Tom got the school. 

There were many outlaws living in the bottoms and on 
the bluffs above and below Waterford who would steal, rob 
hen roosts and drive off cattle and hogs. They would hide 
from the officers during the day time and make their escape 
at night. Dave Waggoner, who was sheriff for twenty-five 
years, would take Tow Ellsworth, who now lives at Forest 
City, go out and lay for the outlaws at night and capture 
their men before daylight the next morning. Mr. Ellsworth 
can relate many thrilling experiences he had with Waggoner. 




CHAPTER XLIII. 



DR. CHARLES NEWTON 




XT'. OF the notable characters that settled in 
Lewistown was Dr. Chas. Newton familiarly 
called Dr. Newt, lie was an eastern man and 
was well educated and was considered a very 
good and skillful doctor. 1 le was the only practicing physi- 
cian in the county for about two years. I le kept no office but 
made his home with O. M. Ross. He would occasionally 
take a drinking spree that would last a day or two but aside 
from this was as perfect a gentleman as any person could 
wish to have in their house. 

I [e was a good deal attached to Ross and often said that 
there was no place that seemed so much like as Ross.' 
A war after Dr. Newton came down to live with Ross'* 
he was the first doctor in Lewistown and the first in Havana 
while living at Ross.' In Havana Harvey's mother started 
him out to hunt a girl to do the house work. 1 fe crossed the 
river and struck off into south Fulton and every house he 
struck he inquired for girls and finally he was directed to an 
old gentleman who lived down in the edge of Schuyler 
county by the name of Londerbach who was said to have 
four girls. I te found the place and told his business and one 
of the girls agreed to go. It was a long trip and they did not 
arrive home till after dark. The doctor had gone to bed but 
called Harvey to his room and wanted to know what kind 
of a girl he had brought home. He was told that she was a 



396 History of Mason County 

splendid looking girl. Do you think she would make me a 
good wife asked he? Harvey told him that he thought she 
would make any man a good wife. So the doctor courted 
her and in three months they were married. 

Havana was at that time in Tazewell county and Tre- 
mont was the county seat fifty miles away, so the doctor got 
his license at Lewistown and employed Esq. J. P. Boice to 
come down and marry them, as the marriage had to be 
performed in the county where the license was procured. 

A crowd of twenty-five or thirty with Esq. Boice and the 
bride and groom moved out in the channel of the Illinois 
river in a boat until they were past the middle of the river 
so as to be in Fulton county and there was a young harness 
maker of Havana who had been paying attention to Miss 
Londerback and in fact was very much smitten with her for 
she was handsome and attractive. When Esq. Boice was re- 
peating the marriage ceremony and came to the place that if 
any persons had any objection why said parties should not be 
bound in the holy bonds of matrimony to let it be known or 
ever afterward hold their peace, young Cook rose up and 
said he objected. The squire asked him what his objections 
were ? 

He replied that he wanted the girl himself. Esq. Boice 
told him that he did not consider his objection legal and went 
and finished the ceremony. The ferry boat then rowed back 
to town where a wedding supper was given by the host and 
hostess and the table was spread with the best the country 
could afford. 

The Indians, at a certain stage of the moon each fall, held 
a great religious festival on the island just above Havana. 
It was then heavily timbered and a picturesque spot. The 
Indians would congregate there by the hundreds, and their 
religious rites and ceremonies would last four days. They 
had an abundance of good things to eat and spent their time 
in singing and dancing. 



History of Mason County 397 

One of their ceremonies was to burn a dog to death. 
They would select a small white dog and make his feet fast 
with four wooden pins, which they would drive in the ground 
and then pile wood and burn over him until he was covered 
four or five feet deep. They would set fire to the pile and 
then gather in a ring around it. When the clog commenced 
to burn he would set up the most terrific and awful howling 
that was ever heard. His cries would ring through the 
woods for half a mile. When the dog commenced howling 
the Indians would set up some doleful, dismal cries and keep 
it up as long as the dog kept howling. 

Then followed a war dance that would end the festival. 
Leonard Kn>> was present at one time when they made a sac- 
rifice of a little dcg. He was only eight years old but when 
the dog made such a yelping, he wanted to clean out the 
whole Indian tribe. 

The mounds above and below Havana show that it was 
a great resort for the dusky warriors and whether the 
mound- arc the work of their hands or not, they were used 
as burial places for their tribe-. 



THE OLD AND THE NEW 

This is an age of progress. If we should live a thousand 
year- it would always be- a pleasing thought that we did not 
live bark of the eighteenth century. All of the great in- 
ventions have been ushered in within the recollection of our 
fathers and grandfathers. The boy of fifteen now considers 
his father an old crank, and knows more than his grandfather 
did at fifty. While some of the new changes may be unim- 
portant, some may be like the crawfish advance backwards. 
Let us compare notes awhile. 

The time was when the preacher read his hymn in a loud 



39§ History of Mason County 

impressive voice so that his hearers had the sentiment of the 
song in their hearts, and then would commence at the first 
verse and read two lines and the whole congregation would 
join in and sing, and they had time to get their breath while 
the hymn was lined. 

Now the preacher announces the page and calls the verses 
stanzas and sits down to rest while the choir mechanically 
grinds out the grist, and should some good old brother or 
sister be moved by the spirit to strike up "Come Thou 
Fount" or "Children of the Heavenly King" or "On Jordons 
Stormy Banks," without the aid of the music box a ripple of 
merriment would run through the house and the choir would 
be amazed. 

Time was when the gallant youth could march along in 
majestic dignity with some little dimpled hand clasped in his 
awkard arm and who could sing ''Your a strong Engined 
Boat ; your speed isn't slow ; So fair one be kind here is a 
Flat you must Tow." 

Time was when people were acquainted with their neigh- 
bors who lived in a circle of five miles, and with the whole 
family would make an all day's visit, and when the wife 
would exhibit her quilt patches and could tell where every 
piece come from. "This is some of grandmother's dress, this 
is some my sister from Ohio sent me," and then before the 
guests started home would get the seed box and divide and 
could tell by the string what was in each package. 

The canned fruit dispensator had not been ushered in and 
the fruit was all dried and apple butter was the standard with 
most of families. "Soft soap." when the moon was right, 
took the place of "Lenox" and "Ivory." 

There was not so much "Etty Cat." You did not have 
to eat with your fork or drink coffee with a spoon. Instead 
of style you had something to eat and your own way of eat- 
ing it. 

Perhaps the new ways are the best, yet us old fellows al- 
ways have a hankering after the old. Yet Adam never saw 



History of Mason County 399 

a World's Fair. Noah never saw a steamboat or railway. 
David never heard a brass band. Peter never telephoned. 
George Washington never rode on a street car. Abraham 
Lincoln never saw a bicycle. Our grandmother made her 
music on a spinning wheel. Her granddaughter plays on a 
"piany forte." and don't know how to darn a hole in the heel 
1 if her stocking. 



RIVERSIDE PARK 

In 1845, just fifty years ago, when a lad of fifteen, we 
first set our foot on Riverside soil at the south end near the 
mound. A ( rerman by the name of John Shulte had erected 
a warehouse there and kept a small store in the upper story, 
i le soon had the German trade as far east as Long Point. 

We recollect seeing the IlimimTs and Wessling's and 
Bishop's hauling their grain there, and it is believed that 
about as much grain was marketed there as at Havana. 

The grain all being sacked np, a steamboat would land 
along side of the house and for several hours load out of the 
wareh< iuse. 

The untimely death of John Shulte was caused by his 
going down in hi- well to clean it out. The rope broke, and 
the bucket struck him on the head, killing him instantly. 

Mrs. Schulte continued the business for a number of 
years and was married again to John Korhman. but died 
hack of 1850. She was of strong mind and could hold her 
own with any kind of a customer. 

We recollect one day when a boat was loading a captain 
was tilling his pockets out of an egg basket, when Airs. 
Schulte with a board gave his coat a whack and broke all 
his eggs. 



400 History of Mason County 

The mound at that day contained many Indian relics and 
was no doubt built by the red men as were other mounds 
above Havana. 

Steam boating was then the only mode of conveyance 
and the old single engined boats could be heard for five miles 
and as we lived only half a mile back we had time to get 
there and see the boats pass. Among the first-class boats 
were the Ocean Wave, Prairie State, John J. Hardin, Die 
Vernon and Connecticut. 

In 1848 the first boat with a steam whistle came up and 
its unearthly scream alarmed the whole country for miles 
around. Our first impression was that the "biler had busted." 
Where the grounds are located we have killed dozens of 
squirrels and caught catfish in front of the park that weighed 
from ten to twenty pounds. 

Little did we dream that in a half of a century thousands 
of people representing the culture and advanced civilization 
of the age would tent upon the ground, where the deer and 
wolf had held disputed sway, and that the peerless Divine 
who had entranced the world, by his eloquence, or that the 
inimitable Sam Jones should hold an audience on the banks 
of the majestic Illinois. 




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